Originally Posted by Zodiak

There was no diplomacy in the run-up to the Iraq war. There was arm-twisting, posturing, feigned attempts at obeying international law, and a secret war engaged months before the official invasion date began. That was not diplomacy; that was bullying.

If the diplomacy argument is based on the "12 years" that is oft mentioned by Bush supporters, then I would say that as far as Iraq was concerned, diplomacy was working (a heck of a lot better than today's conditions, at least). Saddam was effectively contained within his own borders. I would argue that this method was only partially successful, though, because a half of a million children died in Iraq under a lengthy half a generation of economic sanctions.