The Russians made their doubts clear, and agreed to change their minds on an invasion if there was any concrete proof of Iraqi WMD
But the Russians FAILED to provide any concrete evidence to support their conclusions.
And considering that they were the ones who SOLD those weapons, or at least the casings and containers for those chemicals (warheads), only you would give their claims more credibility than those of western intelligence agencies..
And the bottom line is that REGARDLESS of whether stockpiles were actually found, SADDAM WAS STILL ENGAGED IN PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES RELATED TO WMDS.. THE EVIDENCE IS IRREFUTABLE NOW, given what David Kay's team discovered.
Did the Russians reveal that information? NO!!!
And one more thing GST related to your comments about US efforts in Iraq being "vain"..
Not only is that statement defeatist... It's downright RACIST!!..
To claim what the US is trying to achieve in Iraq to be vain, you are insinuating that 20 million Iraqis are utterly incapable of developing a independently governed country...
It also insinuates that Iraqis, if not all Arabs/muslims would rather live under despotic regimes, in utter poverty, and are incapable of moderate, if not progressive, views...
By claiming the situation is "vain", you are effectively condemning some 1 Billion muslims to a future without hope..
What you should be asking yourself is NOT, whether there were WMDs in Iraq, but rather, whether there is an opportunity for the US to make a major positive change in the economic and political well-being of hundreds of millions of people.
And you should be asking yourself who these people will be blaming 10-20 years from now for their plight and being left in the hands of a religious-political ideology that condemned them to the same kind of totalitarian brutality that Iran's government has inflicted its people over the past 20 years..
And finally, you should ask yourself if you're willing to see the US and Europe facing an influx of refugees from each nation that falls to Islamic Fundamentalist regimes.
Nothing work having is easy.. Too many people have an interest in promoting fear and failure.
And if you can't see that what we should REALLY BE FEARING is a region left to its own devices and militant intimidation, outside of any moderating influence, then you, Sir, need to be slapped with a bit of reality..
Because nature abhors a vacuum... Such a void will be filled.. And pulling the US out of the region now guarantees that this void will be filled by those who have the means to intimidate and terrorize an entire nation, and/or region.
Hawk |
