Mike the Usurper wrote:
] So, just to make sure I have this right, we haven't found any
] WMDs, the inspectors didn't find any WMDs and in fact, we've
] even pulled the people LOOKING for the WMDs out of Iraq?
]
] I'm not going to dispute the fact that Saddam was a bad guy
] and that his kids were total psychos, but the purported reason
] we blew this stuff up is bullshit. That being the case, why
] did we REALLY go to war there?

dude, it was to fight for freedom. and, uh, because iraq was a hot bed for terrorists. so like, real soon now, when it's all democratic up in there, everyone in iraq will like us, and then the rest of the middle east will follow their example. everyone will be free and happy and there'll be no more terrorists. and we can enjoy another 4 years of Prosperity and Peace under the greatest president that has ever lived, George W. Bush.

then again... maybe it was something else...
"That man tried to kill my daddy."

Mike the Usurper wrote:
] ] Tests by Danish and American experts indicate there is no
] ] chemical warfare agent in mortar shells unearthed last
] ] week in southern Iraq
]
] So, just to make sure I have this right, we haven't found any
] WMDs, the inspectors didn't find any WMDs and in fact, we've
] even pulled the people LOOKING for the WMDs out of Iraq?
]
] I'm not going to dispute the fact that Saddam was a bad guy
] and that his kids were total psychos, but the purported reason
] we blew this stuff up is bullshit. That being the case, why
] did we REALLY go to war there?

The governments of Iran, Syria, Lybia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, etc... have been slow to move against Al'Q elements that operate domestically in their countries because the people who support those elements are politically influential. By unilaterally attacking Iraq we demonstrated to these goverments that nothing can stop us from pursuing our objectives. We've now a bigger threat to them the the terror groups operating domestically in their countries, and so they've all decided to move against those groups and cooperate with us.

No, no one in the adminsitration ever said that out loud. You don't say such things out loud. In my view, the war was not legal. It was intentionally illegal. They didn't WANT support from Europe. But it DID work. It accomplished many of our short term diplomatic objectives. The real test will be whether the problems we're created with international law come back to haunt us in a generation, as our decision to use nukes in WWII haunts us today.