Quote:
Originally posted by OldJeff@Jun 27 2004, 06:09 AM
I also thought there were WMD's, I also believed the Admin when they said we have photos of them. That is where my problem lies.
Someone "invented" evidence to justify the war.
Of course Iraq had WMD's at one point, we sold some to them, they used some of them against their own people. But when just prior to the invasion we (administration) is waving around pictures of the exact location of WND facilities (production, military, whatever)
If they were moved to another country while we were prepping for war and we did not see it, it absolutely proves incompetence in our intelligence, military, and this administration.
There are MANY reasons for us to be in Iraq, Oil, big military presence in a big time world hot spot, we need to get out of Saudi Arabia, yet remain in the middle east.
The reasons given for justification of the Iraq war were lies, Iraq posed absolutely no threat to the US, there is absolutely no connection with Al Queda, and so far there are no real WND's. (don't even point ot the single spent US made chemical weapons shell)
I am not naive enough to think I will ever know all of the resons we are in Iraq, I think history will show that it was necessary, Hussain is a lunitic, the whole thing made Qadaffi (sp) shit his pants, and the ripples are still being seen.
I still can not get behind the whole "pre-emptive" action policy - If we are attacked, I think we should answer with FULL military might up to and including nuclear weapons. I am just more than a little bothered that it has become the policy of the worlds "democratic leader" to invade a country because "we think" they might attack us.
My primary problems with this administration is the attacks of or rights, with privacy being the biggest.
Saw a report last night (On FOX so please don't spout the liberal media bullshit) that almost 80% of US CITIZENS now have records in a nationwide database of information that can be accessed remotely by the police.
Now if this were a database of only criminal records I would not have a problem, but when they ran the reporters name, they got access to Credit Reports, Names of room mates she has had, every address that she ever lived at. - Sorry a little too Orwellion for "The Land of the Free"
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OK, but the belief that Iraq has had WMDs and continued to develop WMDs has been prevalent at the highest levels of the government for both this administration and the past one. There are numerous statements by Clinton administration officials including Clinton himself to that effect. Recently, the Portuguese Prime Minister said that Clinton told him he was "absolutely convinced" that Iraq had WMDs based on his privileged information until the end of the Saddam regime. Given the above, who is lying? Just Bush because you are a Democrat or Bush and Clinton administrations? The CIA? Who exactly are you accusing of lying? Why is it difficult to believe that Bush (and Clinton for that matter) took CIA assurances that Iraq had WMDs?
So that leads me to believe either that Saddam did have WMDs and was able to move them out of the country or that that we were mistaken. "Intelligence" is, after all, intelligence. Not fact. I guess there could be lesser possibilities like a conspiracy between the Bush/Clinton administrations but that seems less likely.
Well, you say the US would be incompetent if WMDs were moved to another country. OK, let's assume they were moved to Syria. How would the inability to know or stop that prove US incompetence? You can only assume that is true if you assume intelligence is omnipotent which we all know is not true.
Now, about pre-emption. I completely understand your view. Pre-emption is one of the most dangerous and controversial policies any administration could possibly undertake. My question is what do you see as the solution to global terrorism and the threat of such actors working with states to acquire WMDs? Sanctions? Doesn't work. UN resolutions? Doesn't work. You can't stop proliferation with paperwork. I'm not saying that pre-emption works but I am saying that it is not clear that anyone else has come across a solution either. Id say it is absolutely in the interest of the world to step it up on the issue of nonproliferation? But how?