[SunStar]

How long will it take to locate the weapons? Two months? Six months? A year? And, why is the burden on the U.S. and the UK and not Saddam Hussein and neigboring Arab countries?

[onedoug]

We should now be moving on Syria, Iran and North Korea.

[DannyTN]

He was openly funding and bragging about funding terrorists.

WMD was one of several claims made against Iraq by the US at the UN.

That the WMD programs were or were not to the readiness stage to launch attacks is not the only justification for taking Saddam out. It's just the only thing that the liberal left can find to attack.

[Chi-townChief]

"The Case For War Is Blown Apart"

Blair should just respond to Ben Russell and Andy McSmith in Kuwait City with Slick Willie's line: "Blow This!"

[Billthedrill]

Better get used to it, because this game is going to go on for some time. We find something, the bar gets raised, we find something else, the bar gets raised again. Were we to dig up (and I do think there's quite a bit buried) an entire arsenal the ground would shift to "but it was buried and therefore not dangerous." Were we to find it on the launcher it would be "but it wasn't fired, therefore there's no proof it was intended to be." This game goes on ad infinitum - what it boils down to is the opposition party saying "you have to provide proof I'll accept, and nothing you provide will be acceptable." It isn't ever stated quite that bluntly, but it's a fact, and the logical conclusion, that no acknowledgment is either forthcoming or even possible, is the correct one.

[colorado tanker]

Iraq would not have spent a bunch of money on atropine injectors and chemical suits if they didn't have nerve gas. They knew the coalition would never use nerve gas.

Two scenarios seem most likely to me. One, the stuff was well hidden to keep it away from Blix. Then one of two things happened; either our advance was so fast there was no time to take it out of storage and distribute it, or it was destroyed by someone who didn't want to be tried for war crimes. Second, the stuff was moved to Syria or Iran.

IMHO we are unlikely to find anything through our own inspectors, but will have to find the truth through interrogation of senior officials.

[Puddleglum]

I think they'll find the weapons, if not in Iraq then in Syria; but the time it is taking to find them does show how sketchy our intelligence has been in terms of people on the ground keeping an eye on things. I think we are seeing a consequence of the de-fanged US intelligence operations. It's going to take a while to ramp up the presence of eyes and ears on the ground after years of neglect.

[Prodigal Son]

This is a pointless exercise for the Left.

The war has already been debated. It has already taken place. Nothing anybody can do or say will undo it now. It is the aftermath, at this point, that is important, not the rationale behind the war.

Let's say the Left is totally successful here. They manage to stoke public outrage. The Tories and Labour are voted out. Every Republican in America is either tarred and feathered in the media or they fall on their swords.

What then? The problem of 'Iraq- the Aftermath' is still there. We can still not simply pull up stakes and leave. We must still stay in the country and make the ole democracy thing work. Can the Left do this better than the Right? Personally, I think they would make a hash out of it and the world would be an even more dangerous place than it was before we got started.

Saddam was an evil f**ker. He had to go. That whole nest of snakes over there is going to have to be dragged out into the light and have their heads lopped off. The whole region needs to be reordered. I know some people would prefer to not do this for a variety of reasons, but I'm more of a hands-on kind of guy when it comes to some problems. Wishful thinking won't get rid of a schoolyard bully and appeasement won't make this world a safer place.

That's just me though. I'm glad Saddam's gone. That's my bottom line. If the President were to ask me for a list of other despots to topple- I could provide him with one as long as my arm and I wouldn't sweat the finer points of the international legality for taking each one down...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The Labour Left is Looney!

Looks like all sides of the argument are on this thread!

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[HoustonCurmudgeon]

The case for war is that the Arabs needed the hell kicked out of them to get their damn attention. The ONLY thing they understand is raw power and the USE of it. Since Vietnam, with the MINOR exception of Gulf War I, we have been afraid to take real action. That includes Reagan tucking his tail and running after the attack on the Marines in Lebanon.

Every once in a while the big dog has to remind the rabble, both within his pack, and his neighbors, who's boss.

Get the hell over it and move out of the way or you'll get run down!

[kegler4]

Unfortunately I don't have time to read all the comments here so forgive me if I repeat something that's already been said.

My real problem with this story and others is it appears that on occasion the U.S. and now Britain either lied, exaggerated, or used "proof" from a suspect source without checking it in an effort to justify attacking Iraq. This sounds more and more like Bill Clinton tactics. There's no excuse for this. If there's a strong case for taking an action, don't lie to us to justify it. If there isn't a strong case, don't take the action.

[xm177e2]

What Bush should say:

You are right. There was no case for war. I made the whole thing up. The "Weapons-of-mass-destruction" thing was all invented by the CIA to scare people. I deliberately lied to the American people.

But I will make things right. We will withdraw all American forces from Iraq, but not until we've restored Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath Party to power. And we will make sure China, Russia, and France get their oil contracts. It's only fair.

We apologize for the so-called "liberation" of a people who should be grateful for the strong leadership of Saddam Hussein, a true "man of peace." We want to make it up to the Iraqis in every way possible. We will do everything we can to make sure they are happy, and ruled by their rightful Ba'athist government.

Okay, that was all sarcasm. The Saddamites who don't like a free Iraq can BITE ME. Except they can't bite me because I will shoot anyone who tries to bite me (well, anyone who's not a child--once this 5-year-old kid bit me, and I didn't want to shoot him)