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Originally Posted by aceventura3
Thanks. It seems we only differ in regards to perhaps how motivated he was and how quickly or if he would he would have been capable of producing a "deliverable" nuclear weapon. As you know I think he was very motivated, I think he would have used the billions from the oil for food program to fund his goals. I think he also was close to securing the support of Russia and France and could have soon persuaded the UN to back down. I think our actions prevented the potential for a much more costly war. I understand your disagreement.
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You have to actually support these assertions, though. The billions from oil for food were tied up in the fronts which he was trying to use to launder it. He was still in the process of laundering the money when the US and "coalition" invaded in 2003. As for getting Russian and French back up? It wouldn't have mattered one bit. Putin had essentially done a 180 from Yeltsin's pro-Iraq policies, and France would have faced a lot of trouble from it's fellow EU buddies from the UK to Germany. That means, in no uncertain terms, that Iraq stood virtually alone. On top of all that, the UN inspectors were 100% clear on exactly how many WMDs Iraq had, and they were absolutely right.
The cost of the invasion and occupation of Iraq will soon reach the trillions. The collective (every country involved) cost off WW2 is estimated at about $288b total (which translates to less than $5T in current money). Currently, Iraq is at about $500b. If we stay as long as McCain believes we will, $5t will look like pocket change compared to what we'll pay and the US government will implode.