Why do you think Powell resigned just about immediately after the invasion?

Andy Card asked him to step down first of all and secondly a year and a half (Nov 04) is immediately? No wonder you liberals think 5 years is a long time.

Next.

I can blame Saddam for blocking and stalling inspectors for a decade. And over WMD that did not exist?

I have no problem saying we were wrong about WMD but that's only becuase Saddam himself did everyhting in his power to create that illusion.

And there was a general consensus about WMDand Iraq in 2003 even among countries that opposed the war like France and Russia. Everyone got it wrong.

You would have waited another decade despite consensus that he had or was producing WMD, even after 9/11. Great proactive measure there.

The UN resolutions DID threaten Saddam with military action and possible removal it's just that the UN had no backbone.

Yeah, while campaigning in a liberal district for Democratic seat.

What a risk taker. And this is the same guy that said he'd invade Pakistan though right? he does not know whether he is coming or going.

This is the kind of data Bush was dealing with at the time concerning Iraq and it's threat to the US:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe...ing/index.html

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russian intelligence services warned Washington several times that Saddam Hussein's regime planned terrorist attacks against the United States, President Vladimir Putin has said.

The warnings were provided after September 11, 2001 and before the start of the Iraqi war, Putin said Friday.

The planned attacks were targeted both inside and outside the United States, said Putin, who made the remarks during a visit to Kazakhstan.

However, Putin said there was no evidence that Saddam's regime was involved in any terrorist attacks.

"I can confirm that after the events of September 11, 2001, and up to the military operation in Iraq, Russian special services and Russian intelligence several times received ... information that official organs of Saddam's regime were preparing terrorist acts on the territory of the United States and beyond its borders, at U.S. military and civilian locations," Putin said.

He said the information was given to U.S. intelligence officers and that U.S. President George W. Bush expressed his gratitude to a top Russian intelligence official.




But ofcourse the left will continue to believe this was a Bush/Cheney lie to get oil. Or whatever.

Regardless, that doesn't put him on the same side as Bush/Clinton/McCain.


It was a calculated risk, he was right, after all.


And this is the same guy that said he'd invade Pakistan though right? he does not know whether he is coming or going.[/quote]

It's rather simple and consistent.

Focus the war on terror on Al Qaeda.

Again: why we have inspectors, who were pulled out because of assumption.

Assumption that should have been breached by intelligence that was ignored.

The speech where he used the yellow-cake fairy tale.

And after which the US withdrew it's resolution to authorize invasion.

It's just that the UN has a process, one that, by the way, would have shown there to be no weapons programs.

Instead, we kicked the door down based on assumption, and based on the historical fervor of the country, what we WANTED to believe.

And it turned out to be wrong.

We should have stuck to the process we developed.