saline

Frankly none of this is very specific or very damning. Do you actually think that our intelligence isn't involved with Al Qaeda or similar groups? We'd be stupid not to be trying to keep an eye on them from the inside and there's little reason to assume Saddam wasen't doing the same thing.

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And what about the fact that virtually every member of the UN asserted that Saddam had indeed posessed WMD and had failed to produce any information about their whereabouts?

What about it? What the hell are you trying to say here? Whats your point? It seems like you're trying to say "since every memeber of the UN said this it must hold some weight." which leads me to some questions. If the UN holds such weight why did we blatantly ignore them? Why, when the UN inspection team reported that there were no WMD in Iraq, didn't that hold any weight?

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And what about the fact that Saddam was, to put it plainly, an enemy and had attempted to assassinate our President?

Where should I begin with this horrible argument. Since we've tried to assassinate Castro numerous times he's clearly entitled to invade us right? Since we've killed the leaders of a number of South American countries we should be expecting an attempt at occupation soon right?

Since when is it the avowed policy of the United States to invade enemies. It sounds like the America you live in needs to grow the heck up. To bring the thread back to France and opposition to the war this may help clarify things. When dealing with serious issues it helps to at least act serious. The problem is the Bush administration wants to do big boy things but still act like little children. They want the responsibility to kill thousands without considering the consequences or opposing points of view.

Well it's time for a wake up call, the world isn't black and white. We weren't attacked on 9/11 because Al Qaeda hates freedom. We were attacked, and will be in the future, because of our patronizing and irresponsible policies in the Middle East.
(BTW, America should be blamed first when we're the ones responsible)

America is neither specifically blessed nor chosen by any god. Ignoring the truth doesn't make it go away and the sooner conservatives learn that the better off (and more liberal) we'll all be.

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And what about my previous point about the importance of precedent, credibility, and the folly of appeasement?

What about it, it's irrelevant. No one was appeasing Saddam. Bringing inspectors to his country is hardly appeasing him. If precedent is so important why did we violate the precedent against invading soverign nations? The precedent against being the aggressor.

If credibility is so important then why have we been caught in so many lies relating to even just the Iraq war? Too bad we lied about buying weapons materials from Niger. Too bad we lied about our plans for reconstruction. Too bad there are no WMD despite saying we knew where they were.

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Tophat, you wrote "I may come back and pick it apart some time." Fine. Bring it.

Consider it brought. Served right to you with a side of your ass on a plate.

__________________
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"A riot is the language of the unheard."

"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."

"The time is always right to do what is right. "

"One who condones evils is just as guilty as the one who perpetrates it."
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.