fadedsteve wrote:
Basically, what led to the war was Saddam's refusal to abide by UN resolutions, his failure to abide by the terms of his surrender inthe first Gulf War, and the perception (by all intelligence communities, not just the US's) that Saddam was looking to produce WMD's.
In hindsight, we can see that the WMD program was either dismantled, or that WMD's were hidden or shipped to Iran or Syria. The large stores of WMD's had not materialized. So apparently, the US Intelligence community was fooled (as were British, French, German, and other nation's intelligence).
How did they do that with all the Satellite surveillance going on at the time. If it had happened, Collin Powell could have used the real images instead of doctored lies. Powell described this episode as the low point in his career. The UN was lied to by the USA and the UK so any decision they made based on that evidence is null and void.
fadedsteve wrote:
That said, why didn't Saddam just submit to the inspections? Why didn't he abide by the UN resolutions or the surrender agreement? He could have avoided this whole mess, and been living the high life in Bagdad?
Weapons inspectors were kicked out 5 years previous to the war, but in the run up to the war, Hans Blix, the head of the 2002-03 weapons inspection team reported that they were getting good cooperation from the Iraqis.
fadedsteve wrote:
Perhaps he liked being viewed as powerful and dangerous? Perhaps he didn't like answering to the UN? But regardless, for 12 years, he thumbed his nose at the rest of the world (yes, Canada, you too), and refused to abide by his own surrender agreement.
Here's a hypothetical situation for you:
What if following WW2, Hitler would have survived, Germany would not have been occupied (let's say the Allies stopped at Germany's borders, and had merely displaced all the occupying German troops from invaded countries, sort of like the Coalition forces did in Kuwait), and the Nazi war machine continued to produce weapons, and worked towards getting a nuclear device? Would you have faulted the US for invading Germany and deposing Hitler?
Like Hitler, Saddam had used WMD in the past, invaded his neighboring nations and occupied them, and basically said to the world "What are you going to do about it?". Would you have felt safe in 1948 if Hitler had been churning out weapons, and refusing to abide by his surrender agreement signed in 1945? Would you fault the US and Britain for wanting to disarm him? Why is the Iraq situation much different?
Coff* Didn't the US give him money, intelligence and arms to, as you say "invaded his neighboring nations"?
fadedsteve wrote:
Consider that for a bit.
*I got this tidbit from another forum, so I am not claiming all this text is mine* However, I couldnt have said it better myself !
Comparing Saddam to Hitler, lol.
Did the US arm Hitler in the fight against his neighbour Poland?
Did the US sell Hitler technology and equipment when he was using chemical weapons on his people?
I hope not.