I think the one thing we can agree upon here is that we're at an impass. There are several people here who in my oppinion have closed their minds. They have decided the answer is 'X' and are not willing to consider any alternatives. I have chosen to keep an open mind. For doing so, I am berated and made fun of.

At no point did I ever state that I truly believe there are or ever were WMD. Yet, I am willing to keep an open mind about it. Do politicians lie? Sure they do... on all sides of the table. That means Bush could be lying. It also means that the democrats could be lying... It ALSO means that SADDAM could be lying.

I've seen enough circumstantial evidence to keep my mind open to the possibility that Saddam did infact have a WMD program, and may have had the actual weapons as well.

So, for keeping my mind open, I get to endure personal shots...

Ranger,

I don't ever recall using a personal attack aimed at you. I took offense to your comments about my 'grasp on reality' and commented back.

Is there a reason that you stray away from the points I am trying to present? Is there any reason that you must resort to labeling me as clueless, a dickhead, a fool, etc? It would seem that strong language and calling me names must be the way you deal with someone presenting ideas that are alternatives to what you strongly believe.

I find it rather childish that you get so fired up about what I've said and then lower yourself to namecalling. I get the strong impression that if you were able to, you'd pick up a baseball bat to beat some sense into me. You seem to wear your emotions on your sleeve and are ready to attack anyone who has a differing oppinion from your own.

I'm going to make one last point, and then I'll stop responding to threads where you have commented. It's simply not worth my time to try and get through to you.

The world is full of people who have different oppinions from yours. At some point you will need to grow up some and learn that the best way to get someone to see your side of things is to talk rationally to them. If you go on the war path every time someone says something you don't agree with, you're going to lead a very stressful life!

If you're willing to admit that you've gone way to far by resorting to attacking me as a person, then I'd be willing to continue posting to threads where you are a participant. It just makes no sense to me to get into a heated arguement with someone who is childish and doesn't want to admit that there might just be a different oppinion out there. Grow up some. You really need it.

I really don't give a damn if you ever respond to anything I post here again. I honestly don't. I have never suffered fools gladly, and frankly, I'm sick to death of Bush apologists.

Friends of mine are dying over in Afghanistan and Iraq right now. Real flesh-and-blood people. This is not some vague, meaningless rhetorical debate to me any more. It's gone way beyond that. It's an honest-to-God life and death issue for many people I genuinely care about. Friends.

The facts on Bush and his personal vendetta with Saddam are perfectly clear to anybody with open eyes and an open mind. The man is a chronic fucking liar, a pathological liar, and pretty much the entire world knows it by this point in time. I wish it were otherwise. I wish that with all my heart, because then we could all rightly say that none of the casualties over in Iraq died for absolutely nothing. Unfortunately that is not the case, and as a former professional soldier that really, really frosts my ass big-time. I refuse to mince words in a "sociable" or "politically correct" manner on this topic anymore. Out of respect and concern for those soldiers who are still placing their lives on the line over there for our resident madman in the White House I simply can't. If that offends you then tough shit. So be it.

I hate Bush for the brainless, arrogant coward that he is. And I hate those that continue to support his bullshit. They all deserve (and need) a good, solid crack over the head with a baseball bat, in my opinion. People are dying over this senseless, pointless, totally fabricated bullshit of his right now. People that I care about -- far more than I care about you or Bush and his brainless little sycophants.