Originally Posted by zteccc

@Skandalous,
Weapons or not, Saddam Hussein was a threat. The report states that there were no stockpiles and that Hussein's weapons programs had diminished since 1991. That said, Saddam's own scientists have said they could have easily produced massive quantities of chemical weapons very quickly. As such Saddam still had the ability to manfacture these weapons for use in war or sale to terrorist groups.
This war was not about WMD. They were a part of it, but they were simply one of a series of violations against the cease-fire agreement at the end of the 1991 Gulf War (a war that didn't end, but was still active since no peace treaty was signed). The cease fire required an accounting of the WMD. It required a level of cooperation by Saddam Hussein. It required proof of the destruction of the weapons that Hussein had in 1991. It required several other things that Iraq didn't comply with. Saddam Hussein could have easily avoided 12 years of sanctions, 17 resolutions and the resumption of hostilities. He could have his sons alive. He could be free. I cannot begin to fathom why he chose the path that he did, but it suggests mental instability. If he was mentally unstable, and had the power that he had, and had scientists who could have generated large amounts of chemical weapons very quickly (their words), then he was a threat.

The UN agreed with this assessment which is why 17 resolutions were passed. There wasn't an intelligence agency in the world who didn't consider Saddam Hussein a threat. It was impossible to know for sure without either Saddam Hussein's cooperation (which was required by the cease-fire) or the action that the coalition undertook to determine what the truth was.

Here is the truth, however: Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against Iran and against the Kurds. He filled mass graves with the bodies of thousands of his own citizens. He compensated families of terrorists. He supported state-sanctioned torture and rape of his own people. He chose to allow his people to suffer under UN sanctions for 12 years instead of complying with a cease fire treaty that he signed and agreed to, one that wouldn't have lost him his country or his position. He was, in short, a bad man and the world is better off without him in power. The world generally agrees with the above statements, and in fact in the United States, President Bush's opponent for the upcoming election, Senator John Kerry, also agrees with these statements, even in light of the weapons reports.

Now the report also allows for the possibllity that the massive convoy from Iraq to Syria just before the war might have contained weapons, there's no way to be certain at this point. The report also allows for the potential for weapons to be hidden so well that we simply cannot find them. That isn't really important. As I wrote, WMD was only one of many reasons to remove Saddam Hussein from power.

@thedevilf
Sometimes we have to make a case for action and that case must be built on the best intelligence that we have. The best intelligence that anyone in the world had stated that WMDs existed. There was no reason for anyone to doubt that intelligence. Even opponents of the war agreed with the intelligence but simply were concerned with war as a matter of politics or philosophy. If you go back to President Bush's speeches prior to the war, he said that Saddam Hussein hadn't accounted for these weapons which is different from saying that he had them. The cease fire treaty requried an accounting. This is common practice and every military keeps logistical counts of their armaments. We had proof that at one time Saddam Hussein had these weapons (because he had used them). It wasn't unreasonable to demand an accounting (which Saddam never gave).

I'm truly sorry for the loss of life in Iraq. I'm truly sorry for the loss of life in many nations. If the UN had any guts or will, none of this would have been necessary, but the UN doesn't, and as a result, sometimes people and nations simply have to take action, even if it is unpopular.

-- Jeff

ps Now, will someone explain to me how any of the above is relevant to this thread's topic?