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Originally Posted by shakran
There's only two conclusions we can make from this: Either he's an idiot who doesn't remember from day to day what his thinking was the day before, or he's been misleading us as to his true motives and is now trying to make us forget about it.
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The first option is obviously ridiculous. I will agree with you about the second but disagree about the implications. I've outlined many times in the politics area why I know we went to war with Iraq. Often times, in politics, the case for action is based on things other than the "real" reason. You may disagree about the logic behind going into Iraq and some of the reasons used to justify it but can you put that aside for a minute and try to take the following perspective?
Let's say you believed that Iraq's defiance of abiding by the treaty to end the first Gulf War by hiding weapons programs (wmd or not he absolutely was increasing the range of his missiles), its refusal to follow UN mandates, and Hussein's continued control over billions of dollars (and most of Iraq) were a symbol to all states who sponsored terrorism that this was the worst the world could do to them should they continue to sponsor terrorists. Let's also say that you believed this situation would continue unchecked for another decade unless something else was done.
Further, one fundamental necessity in the war on terror (Al Qaida et al) is to deny them safe havens. With no real risk to the power of these states (as evidenced by Hussein's continued wealth and power) what alternatives were available to influence said states?