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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: brian1501 who wrote (182573)	2/13/2004 3:43:11 PM
From: Alighieri	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1577402

Actually, we know he was NOT in compliance because many things were found in violation of UN resolutions. He may not be as far out of compliance as we thought, but you are being intellectually dishonest by saying generally "he was in compliance". Well, these degrees of deceipt and their potential for consequence stand in stark contrast to death and destruction, and the potential for avoidance of such. It is difficult to admit that we've been duped, if, at a minimum, by the emergency and timing given the matter, more broadly, by the marketing.... At a minimum, he was actively keeping the pieces around to reconstitute his programs (not in compliance), building long range missile systems (not in compliance) etc. For heaven's sake man, one can make this argument about any third world country's pharmaceutical capability. This is fools' fodder. Al

To: brian1501 who wrote (182573)	2/13/2004 5:14:57 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577402

Actually, you miss the point. He did deliver but he didn't do it with grace or with chuckles like you all apparently expect he should have. Sorry, it's still you missing the point. For inspections to work (once again), he has to be a willing participant. Dragging his feet, and complying as minimally as possible does not give us any reason to trust him. Brian, do you understand that he couldn't do it the way you wanted? We took away 95% of Saddam's WMD by 1998. Everyone knew for sure that that was true. What they weren't sure is that we had gotten all of them. Why was that? Because there was some paperwork from Saddam that suggested there was more but the inspectors couldn't find the missing ingredients/components. And before they could, Saddam made this big thing and got them out of this country. In other words, Saddam went through a lot of trouble and danger to create an illusion. An illusion that he had WMD. Why was that? Because he had too. Iraq is in a bad part of the world and Saddam has made a lot of enemies; enemies who would take advantage of his weaponless state. Now if someone who doesn't have a background in international relations can figure this one out, then don't you think someone in the WH with all their experience would be able to as well? In addition, Saddam was a petty thief......on the level of a pickpocket or a thug in the criminal world. He's not up there with the Hitlers or the Musharrafs or the dictator of Burma. In other words, the Wizard didn't give him a brain. He did what he did in the '80s because he had the covert approval and aid from the US. He attacked Kuwait because he had the covert approval and aid from the US. I am sure there was no one more shocked than Saddam when Bush counterattacked him in 1991. All the members of the current WH have to know the above points about Saddam. They knew exactly who he was and with what they were dealing. They knew he was contained. However, long before even 9/11, they wanted Saddam out for whatever the reasons. And they knew they had to move quickly when Saddam allowed the inspectors back in. They were counting on Saddam balking and keeping the inspectors out. He did not. Time was of the essence because it was only a matter of time before the weapons inspectors would find out there were no more WMDs. The American public got snookered by the WH. Like I've said before, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Are you willing to be fooled again? We know he was in compliance because there are no WMD in Iraq. Head->sand. Actually, we know he was NOT in compliance because many things were found in violation of UN resolutions. He may not be as far out of compliance as we thought, but you are being intellectually dishonest by saying generally "he was in compliance". There is sufficient evidence that he was in enough reasonable compliance that war was unnecessary. If he was bombastic and foot dragging, so what? A responsible leader only goes to war when his country has been attacked; when an ally has been attacked; or when all else fails. None of those conditions existed prior to our attack of Iraq. At a minimum, he was actively keeping the pieces around to reconstitute his programs (not in compliance), building long range missile systems (not in compliance) etc. Yes, they found a centrefuge buried in a backyard. Come on, Brian, you are not that naive or silly. There are not the basic materials in Iraq, other than that centrefuge, to make a nuke and you know it. ted