Maybe it seems like old news not worth revisiting. But the more I see Bill Clinton congratulating himself over his "military victory" in Kosovo, the more it reminds me that this entire operation began as little more than a diversion from his latest political scandal.

This wasn't a humanitarian relief mission, folks. It was the latest in a series of wag-the-dog attacks directed by the war criminal in the White House.

If you have any doubts, let's just review the facts:

• On Aug. 17, 1998, Clinton went on national television to offer an explanation-cum-apology for his deposition that day in the Monica Lewinsky investigation. On Aug. 20, 1998, Clinton launched a cruise missile assault against Sudan and Afghanistan. The Afghan real estate was supposed to be the base of terrorist Osama bin Laden. But he was not present, though 24 others were reportedly killed. The Sudan site was an alleged chemical-weapons plant that turned out to be a perfectly legitimate pharmaceutical company. The night watchman was killed.

• On Dec. 16, 1998, Operation Desert Fox began with air and cruise missile attacks on Iraq just hours before the House of Representatives was to commence its impeachment debate. The proceedings were delayed by a day because of the military action. The operation ended three days later, by some accounts, out of respect for the Islamic holiday of Ramadan. Nevertheless, some 2,000 Iraqis were killed in the series of bombing raids.

• In February 1999, Clinton was faced with two scandals breaking at once -- the emerging evidence that he had raped Juanita Broaddrick and the details of security lapses that resulted in American nuclear secrets falling into the hands of the Chinese. Though many analysts were surprised at the precipitous manner in which negotiations were halted, Clinton chose this moment to launch what turned into an 11-week bombing campaign in Serbia, killing some 6,000 Yugoslavian troops, 2,000 civilians and sparking the revenge killings of some 11,000 ethnic Albanian Muslims.

Where would Clinton get the inspiration for such brazen and risky political theatrics? Paul Burgess, a former congressional aide to U.S. Sen. Michael Enzi of Wyoming, thinks he has an answer. And so do I.

Burgess cites a hard-to-find report released by Federal Reserve economists in late 1997 called "An Investigation into the Magnitude of Foreign Contacts." The document (No. RWP97-14) is essentially, Burgess explains, a scientific qualification of the "wag the dog" theory, with the researchers offering a lengthy and complex mathematical model to illustrate the advantages of small-scale, low-intensity wars to presidents in distress.

The report concludes: "If the information content (about the leader, and for the consumption of the electorate) of small conflicts is substantial and their costs sufficiently small, our model points to the possibility of diversionary actions being welfare-enhancing (for the leader); only when (a diversionary war) can provide information favorable to the incumbent leader can the action be successful in its purpose; even though a diversionary war may have been avoidable and may force an unwarranted cost upon the electorate, it also reveals new information about the leader's abilities which the electorate may find beneficial."

I sit here in amazement that Clinton is permitted by my colleagues in the press and the Republican majority in Congress to gloat about his military prowess in defeating the Serbian army. He should be prosecuted for this savagery and this blatant violation of the Constitution.

Worse yet, Clinton is now suggesting that his antics in the Balkans should serve as a model for future engagements throughout the world. He says this at the very moment the bloody tables in Kosovo have been turned -- as ethnic Albanian Muslims take their revenge on innocent Serb civilians.

We're a long way from peace in the Balkans. Intelligence analyst Richard Maybury points out that, in World War II, the real fighting in the Balkans did not begin until after the Serb government surrendered. Then the Serbs turned to guerrilla war and eventually ran the Nazis out, killing some 70,000 in the process.

Is it too much to believe that a president of the United States would stoop to warfare as political cover for himself? Remember, this is not just any president of the United States. This is Bill Clinton we're talking about -- a politician who lives by the polls. It's just possible that, in the last two years, more than a few people have died for those polls, too.