Remember the weapons of mass destruction that Iraq, we were told, at least by the British, Saddam Hussein was capable of launching within 45 minutes? Remember National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice’s alarmist “mushroom cloud”? Remember the yellowcake that was left out in the rain or that nobody of any expertise believed in or whatever?

Well, last I checked, the “Coalition of the Duped,” despite months of searching, hadn’t found anything of the sort in Iraq, proving themselves at least as incapable of the U.N. inspection team they so scornfully ridiculed.

(By the way, when will the excuse for not finding WMDs turn into the altogether too convenient, “We haven’t been looking very diligently, what with other priorities and all. You know, this whole guerrilla war thing about which nobody in the White House or Pentagon gave any thought.”?)

The Bush administration, together with Prime Ministers Tony “The Poodle” Blair and John “The Miniature Poodle” Howard and wide swaths of the punditocracy, would like very much for you to forget about them.

In hopes that you don’t, and more important, that lawmakers don’t drop the ball on this as gladly as the media have, there will be a news conference in Philadelphia tomorrow calling for passage of a congressional resolution to launch a special investigation into the causes -- both real and imagined, I presume -- of the ongoing war in Iraq.

The news conference is being sponsored by Win Without War, True Majority, and Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities (B.L.S.P.), among others, and will be held on the front steps of the Friends Center, 15th and Cherry Streets, Philadelphia, beginning at 12:15 p.m.

Speakers include Mary Ellen McNish, executive director of the American Friends Service Committee, Michael McCally, president-elect of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Phyllis Gilbert of Peace Action of Pennsylvania, and Mark Lichty of B.L.S.P.

Everyone is invited -- you don’t have to be a let-me-roll-over-while-you-feed-me-a-sound-bite “journalist” to attend.

And bring the kids! The event includes a brief satirical skit, “Alice in DubyaLand,” featuring Alice, Mad “W” Hatter, Rum Queen, Cheney-Cheshire Cat, and the White Rabbit.