There are of course many theologies in the world, but the two involved here have different theories of prayer. Bush prays in the tradition of a dialogue with God, in which God hears Bush and Bush hears God. This is the tradition preached by the Rev. Billy Graham, who helped inspire Bush to become born again after Bush turned to him for help with alcoholism.

The pope prays in a tradition where he asks God for the grace to make the right decision for himself, based on his own values and best effort. In this tradition, the pope has free will and the responsibility that comes with it. Free will must be absolute or it is not free. God is not a coach who allows the quarterback to make most of the decisions, but sometimes sends in a play from the sidelines.

These notions may help explain Bush's tone at the press conference. The questions and answers were beside the point, because Bush knows he is doing the right thing. "The choice is Saddam's," he said more than once. Whether that is true or not, the choice is no longer Bush's. The problem with being sure that God is on your side is that you can't change your mind, because God sure isn't going to change His.

It would be difficult to improve on Lincoln's prescience in refuting Herndon's thesis -- the core of which is Bush's basic rationale for the proposed war on Iraq. Lincoln replied: "Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion [or, in this case, theoretical use of weapons of mass destruction], and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose -- and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect. ... If, today, he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, 'I see no probability of the British invading us' but he will say to you, 'Be silent, I see it, if you don't.'"

The Bush doctrine is built on two pillars:

• The United States will do everything in its power to maintain its unquestioned military supremacy;
• The US arrogates the right to pre-emptive action.

• American sovereignty, which takes precedence over international treaties and obligations;
• The sovereignty of all other states.

To be sure, the Bush doctrine is not stated starkly; it is buried in Orwellian doublespeak. The doublespeak is needed because the doctrine contradicts American values.

The Bush administration believes that international relations are relations of power; legality and legitimacy are mere decorations.