[Jim W N]

No he talked about going in and finding them, but leading up to the actual invasion, he wasn’t talking much about WMD’s at all. Then when we invaded Iraq, it turned into a justification of turning counties into democracies...

[cookcounty]

" Then when we invaded Iraq, it turned into a justification of turning counties into democracies...

From the beginning, it was known as "O.I.F.", Operation Iraqi Freedom, not "Operation Find the WMD."

[ARepublicanForAllReasons]

You are just wrong about Bush flip-flopping on his rationale for invading Iraq. The main argument Bush presented was that, in a post 9/11 world, Iraq under Saddam Hussein was a known peril of unpredictable and potentially disastrous intentions. The claims of WMD were presented to the UN to bolster his call for international support and UN sanctioning of the invasion. If the evidence was shoddy, why didn't any responsible person call him out on it at that time?

The invasion was also justified on the grounds that Saddam had refused to comply with the terms of the peace treaty that formally ended Desert Storm. This is undeniable. He reneged on inspections and shot at our surveillance planes in the no-fly zone. He continued to sponsor terror and to provide safe harbor to terrorists. Thus, the invasion of Iraq was actually a continuation of Desert Storm. Saddam refused to let himself be defanged, and he paid the price.

Bush had legal justification from Congress, and the overwhelming support of US citizens (if polls mean anything).