...but it deserves a slap in the face.
I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again:
The main justification for war was WMD.
No WMD, no justification for war.
Whose to say Saddam didn't have WMD's?
Let's try David Kay,
our chief weapons inspector in Iraq.
Or let's try Colin Powell,
our Secretary of State, who admits that our pre-war intelligence was shaky and less than reliable (you don't go to war based on unreliable intel).
We all agree that Saddam was a ruthless murdering ******* who deserved to be taken out of power. But that's not what the debate is about. Its about how we went into Iraq (President's near disregard for international diplomacy to take its due course - - speeches made to the UN on the eve of war don't count) and how what we are doing is effecting the world and breeding a new, even more viscious breed of terrorists.
The President phrased (and still does) Iraq as a theater in the overall "War on Terror." It is not. There was no imminent threat to US civilians from Saddam's non-existent WMDs. But, that was how the WH billed it, as some sort of threat, that they were stopping another 9/11 by taking out Saddam now. Simply untrue. If Bush were serious about attacking the heart of terrorism, we'd be knee deep into Saudi Arabia by now. But instead, we got a President who was fixated upon Iraq days after his inaguration, and used 9/11 as rationale to go there. This was about settling old scores, not the noble act the WH proclaims it to be.
How easy do you think it would be for Saddam to bury or move everything out before hand.
But why would he? Wouldn't he use them? Put yourself in Saddam's shoes for a second: You know you're facing the world's best equipped, trained, and funded armed fighting force in the history of the world. You know your chances of capture or death are very high. *And, as Patmack wants you to believe, you've got scores of missiles, mobile weapons labs, and flasks of toxic gases.* If you know you're goin down in flames, (and remembering that sociapathic (sp?) killers like Saddam have little respect for anyone's life) why not use what little you *have*? If he had 'em, he woulda used 'em.
As to how you got from that to the former Soviet Union, that's anybody's guess. Yes, I understand your point about bringing freedom to oppressed peoples, but again, if that was how the President phrased the war from the beginning, this would be a whole different story. Iraq is not a legitamate theater in the war on terror, and the President has done more to destabalize the region than to heal it.
So why don't you take your 10th grade education, and trust the experience and flags that are running the show.
Because we live in a Representative
Democracy. Because although we elect people to make our governmental decisions for us, they still ultimately answer to us, the people. And finally, because I hold a sincere distrust of anyone who freely admits to not reading a daily newspaper (I'm referring to our President, of course).
I'm in the eleventh (11) grade, actually.
Remember, patriotism can mean more than identifying with any random leader who wraps himself up in the flag, playing on your fears and sympathies, all to suit his personal agenda. (Look, I even tried to watch the tone this time!!!)
EDIT--Actually, I watch MSNBC sometimes, and the Fox'Faux'News Channel when I'm feeling adventurous .