Gotta say Mark/Static makes some outstandingly superbly excellent points. I am in 100% agreement.
I don't BELIEVE Saddam was responsible for 9/11 nor do I think he had any hand in it, nor do I really care 'cause it doesn't factor into the equation.
All 9/11 did was WAKE US UP TO REALITY. Pitter pattering around the issue no longer cuts it. The only way to deal with these kinds of people is to take their war to them before they bring it to us. Look at Khadafi (sp?)...man if he wasn't the scum of the Earth then Reagan sent over those cruise missles...damn, we missed him...but I'll be damned if he didn't get the message and totally disappeared off the face of the planet.
People like Saddam, Osama, etc., have gotten used to slaps on the wrist (if that) for forever in response to whatever they've wanted to do. They've enjoyed absolute freedom from accountability. They've realized that though we say we're gonna "respond," that we "always say that, but you never do it" (to quote a line from "Toy Soldiers"). That can no longer be the case.
Whoever made the point about the box cutters is missing the point. Sure, they used box cutters...but imagine what they'd have done if they had NUKES! Or Serin gas. Or smallpox.
When it all boils down to the bones, all these "what abouts" are just cop-outs. I can't believe people can say they're against the possibility of war becuase of these things that are totally removed from the issue at hand. The issue is clear and what must be done is clear. One person brought up Saddam's m.o. as being a very vengeful person...dead-on correct, and you can bet that sooner or later, perhaps on his deathbed, he'd "exact retribution" for the embarrassment he suffered during Desert Storm. To not act in the interests of PREVENTION or SELF-DEFENSE is laughably illogical. We should have gotten rid of Saddam the first time around, but as was pointed out that wasn't the objective...nor did it really cross our minds at the time that 12 years down the road we'd be facing the error of that inaction.
I also don't expect it to end following the removal of Saddam. There are other targets that will need to be "addressed," and I support that in full. I no longer wish to wait and see what they're going to do next before we have to act. When the world gets serious in dealing with these kinds of people, they will start taking seriously the concerns of the world and perhaps then some real progress can be made. Until then, they will sit back and do their thing while laughing at the U.N. and praying to whatever power they hold high that countries such as the U.S. will wait for their approval before acting.
It's all about risk vs. reward. When the risk of acting like these folks act is no longer worth it...well, you get the picture.
Lotsa love,
~Justin Owen~