Destructor, how about this -- Why war, why then?

Said differently, it was reported by the UN inspectors that they were getting the cooperation they wanted. It was reported by the UN inspectors that they were not finding any of the things that the US was saying to look for, even in the places that the US was saying to go. It was reported by the UN inspectors that they only needed another 2 months to finish their inspections and issue a final report. This was all before we invaded.

Now, since it has since been proven that the UN inspectors were (gasp!!) right -- that is correct, not wrong, accurate, truthful, etc. -- and that the secret information that we "knew" but could not share with the rest of the world was bullshit. We still invaded and then came up with exactly the same conclusion as the UN inspectors, which is to say that Saddam did not have WMD, did not have the capability to produce WMD and did not have any active programs to produce or acquire the means of production of WMD. If you do not believe me, then read the report of the Iraq Survey Group -- the "Duelfer Report" issued on Sept. 30, 2004. [www.cia.gov]

All of which leads me back to the basic question -- Why war, why now? That is the question that no-one has adequately been able to answer. Why could we not wait until the inspectors were done? Why did we need to invade then and not one or two months later? Why the urgency when even the Bush Administration has now admitted that sanctions and UN inspections worked (admitted by saying "sure, but the second that sanctions and inspections were to be discontinued, Saddam still wanted to restart his program" -- OK, but that admits that he would not while sanctions and inspections were still there).

The only reason that I can think of for "Why war, why now?" is that the Bush Administration was bound and determined to take out Saddam by force and that if we waited until the inspectors gave their report it would have been that much harder because we knew that the inspectors were going to give a clean bill of health. Translation -- we knew there were no significant weapons of mass distruction and certainly no nuclear program, and we went anyway because the Bush Administration felt it was important to take out Saddam. That may have been valid -- the need to take out Saddam by force -- but it was certainly not what we were being told. We were being told that it was all about the WMD and enforcing the UN Resolutions.

Ultimate translation -- the Bush Administration lied. They brought us into Iraq under false pretenses.

Why war, why now? Because the US will not support what we feel we need to do if we actually tell the truth as to why.

This is why you should all feel so insulted: The administration did not have enough confidence in the average American to actually tell the truth about what it was doing. And that is why we are having this debate now -- a debate we should have had before the war -- what is it we intend to accomplish and is it worth the price?