WRITING ON STEPHEN HAYES’ ARTICLE on the Saddam / Al Qaeda connection, Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball are skeptical, saying that the case for such a connection is “decidedly not closed.”

Er, okay guys. How about treating it as open, then?

Meanwhile Tony Blankley wonders if the sudden increase in media skepticism toward leaked stories displayed in recent weeks has anything to do with the fact that all the leaks make Bush look good, or his critics look bad. Surely not.

And Pejman Yousefzadeh responds to the Hayes article by calling for more public disclosure of what’s known on the subject.

UPDATE: Hayes responds to Newsweek.