Even with the report of the Sept. 11 commission concluding that a connection but no meaningful cooperation in regard to terrorism existed between al-Qaida and Iraq, the defensive reaction from President Bush this week was unneeded. Instead, a fuller explanation would be welcome.

The commission confirms there was a connection between the two, but hardly the connection suggested by the administration. There was, for instance, the rumor that Sept. 11 terrorist Mohamed Atta had met with senior Iraqi officials, a meeting Vice President Cheney in late 2001 said was “pretty well confirmed,” but which the commission could not confirm. President Bush last year implied a terrorism connection between al-Qaida and Iraq when he said “the battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11th, 2001.”

The president also made a point of putting distance between Sept. 11 and the war in Iraq, but the misperception that a link exists between the attack and Saddam Hussein remains firmly in the minds of many Americans, according to polls on the subject.

Because the war on terrorism is so deadly serious – witness al-Qaida’s beheading yesterday of American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr. – getting this connection right is crucial. The president’s explanation Thursday was that, “The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al-Qaida: because there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida.”

The nation largely has supported the president in this war; it was willing to risk lives and long-term security in one of the world’s most dangerous regions and at home based on his arguments for war. The conclusions by the bipartisan commission show those arguments to be questionable.

The president has given two speeches in recent months explaining his approach and goals for Iraq. He should do so again, describing the relationship he sees between Iraq and al-Qaida and how the relationship drives terrorism, if he believes it does.

Since Sept. 11, Americans who are not fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq have wondered what they could do to sup-port the battle against terrorism. The answer may be that the best they can do is understand, as fully as possible, what led the nation into war and why events in those countries have turned out as they have. The president can help.