The Bush administration apparently has decided to make smokers pay for the war against Saddam Hussein and Iraq's rebuilding.

Not much has been made of it by the media, but just before last week's invasion the Justice Department revealed it was demanding forfeiture of $289 billion by the tobacco industry for fraudulent marketing practices.

Cigarette producers have been running what amounts to a major criminal enterprise, the government claims. The $289 billion is what the industry is estimated to have made selling the devil's weed to more than 30 million youthful smokers over a generation or two. These apple-cheeked innocents, it's alleged, were transformed into tobacco addicts by misleading advertising and lied to about the dangers of smoking.

Such assertions are a crock, as any honest person who began smoking as a kid will tell you. My introduction to cigarettes occurred in 1949 at age 11. Advertising had nothing to do with it. My sixth-grade buddies, Chick and Duck, double-dared me and, well, you just don't walk away from a double dare.

Smoking then, as now, equated with rebellion, and no kid with half a brain has ever had any illusions about smoking's health hazards. They've been "coffin nails" and "cancer sticks" for at least a century. Smoking was cool, though, and for a kid it's no contest when there's a choice between playing it cool and playing it safe.

Many lessons have been learned since those days on that West Virginia grade school playground. One is that not smoking is better than smoking. It took a mere 37 years to learn that lesson.

Another lesson is that all trappers don't wear fur hats. When government seeks to confiscate nearly $300 billion from a legally constituted business selling a legal product, it doesn't pass the smell test.

What makes the smell even more fishy is that this suit was initially brought by the previous administration. Up to now the Bushies hadn't appeared all that keen to pursue what's believed to be one of the biggest federal suits ever.

So, what's happened to resurrect interest? Well, the federal budget is hemorrhaging and there's a war on. Or hadn't you heard? Draw your own conclusions.

The tobacco industry has come to be viewed by government as a mother lode to be mined whenever the financial need arises. The states, you'll remember, mugged the industry to the tune of more than $200 billion a few years ago. Now that Washington's strapped, Uncle Sam apparently sees the tobacco industry as ripe for the plucking again.

Why not? Tobacco is such an easy mark for those with more power than principles. There's no downside here, because politicians know tobacco sellers and users are the closest thing to pariahs our society has. Analysts figure a victory amounting to anywhere near $289 billion will add 50 cents or so to a pack of butts. It might even bankrupt the industry and throw tens of thousands out of jobs, but, hey, war is hell.

Government will do whatever it wants, but let's be honest: This has nothing to do with kids. It has everything to do with government taking advantage of its legal power to plunder a politically vulnerable private enterprise.