How many UN sanctions violated?
One could argue that even though they violated several UN mandates, the punishment (invasion) didn't fit the crime.
(dems have been avoiding that post for some reason)
Fine. Sure. Just like Democrats avoid Clinton's claims that Iraq also had WMD.
The difference, of course, is judgment. When Clinton was convinced Iraq was playing games with inspectors and hiding WMD, he bombed the crap out of them. He didn't invade with an undersized, under-equipped force and no exit strategy. Sure, Clinton himself believed Saddam ought to be removed, but he didn't follow through.
Look, in hindsight no one wishes we were there.
Doesn't that admission invalidate your own argument that we are justified for being there because Saddam was a bad guy/Iraq was violating UN sanctions?
But we broke it, and if we bail out now it will become a terrorist hotbed with more violence than there is now.
I don't know about that. If we were to back out now, Iran would fill the vacuum, and Iraq might actually become MORE peaceful in the long run (After the requisite purging of the Sunnis).
What's curious to me is why no one in the Bush admin really anticipated the hatred between the Sunnis and Shias, and consequently never seemed to have war-gammed out this scenario we're faced with. Let's look at this honestly. We removed Saddam, a terrible, horrible dictator, but also the only guy (apparently) who could hold Iraq together and the only guy who can keep Iranian/Persian power in check.
We pull out now and it's a war between Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Turkey on one side and Iran on the other. And in a few years, every map of the middle east is obsolete. In the meantime, oil shoots to $200 a barrel, Israel becomes even more paranoid about their neighbors, and Russia and China sit back with glee knowing that we created our own mess.
That's what Bush has gotten us into.
