Krugman's column is spot on, as usual, but it leaves me with questions. Krugman writes:

Can Mr. Kerry, who voted to authorize the Iraq war, criticize it? Yes, by pointing out that he voted only to give Mr. Bush a big stick. Once that stick had forced Saddam to let W.M.D. inspectors back in, there was no need to invade. And Mr. Kerry should keep pounding Mr. Cheney, who is trying to cover for the absence of W.M.D. by lying, yet again, about Saddam's ties to Al Qaeda.

The problem with this is that the Republicans have already shown how they'll handle this: they respond to any criticism of the war by asking Kerry, "Would you have left Saddam Hussein in power?"How does he answer that? Of course no sane administration would have invaded Iraq, but it's a "Have you stopped beating your wife?" yes-or-no question. How does he respond?