I didn't support the war in Iraq either for the reasons Bush gave. However, try asking most Iraqi's if we did wrong by invading their country? Truth is, most Iraqi's like what the U.S. did because it got rid of Saddam and then helped them to rebuild their government and country. I don't know this from any media reports or any propaganda spewed at me. I know this because of all the soldiers I've talked to since they returned home from Iraq. Of course a few bad things happened, and of course many Iraqis would like us to withdraw, but do not mistake that for ingratitude or hatred. Most Iraqis just want to stand on their own feet. They appreciate what the U.S. has done to improve the country, but they just feel it is time they took care of themselves.

And WMDs were never found. Truth is, Saddam had dismantled, destroyed, or even sold off all his WMDs before the U.S. invaded. It was an act of self-preservation on his part. First, maybe it would halt the invasion. Second, no WMDs found would embarrass the U.S. And third, a stray missile or artillery shell could conceivably released hundreds, if not thousands, of gallons of deadly gas. If Saddam and his people survived the gas, the Iraqis left would have rebelled against him. The chemical deaths from the Iran-Iraq War sucked the will to fight from both sides. Too many people still remember just how many people died. It is still a sore wound for many middle aged Iraqis.

Isn't it funny how North Korea and Iran step up nuclear projects shortly after Iraq was invaded? Could it be that they bought Saddam's nuclear research?

Considering that Saddam was fully capable of pulling off a 9/11 and never did and yet his country paid by blood for the crime it is a travesty and makes us tyrants.

Saddam funded hundreds of suicide bombings in Israel, gassed the
Kurds, filled several mass graves with Shia supposed to be his
opponents or detractors. So don't say he never did. He did pull
off many 9/11 attacks and he had to go - one way or another. It does
not make us tyrants. It makes us heroes. Heroes who came and did
what was needed to free people under horrible oppression. Despite
the danger to ourselves. Despite internecine fighting all around
us. Despite the condemnation of ignorant Americans and apathy from
those who were less affected by the terrorism and injustice of
Saddam's rule.

We can be proud of our accomplishments in Iraq. We have been gone
for a while now and it is completely up to the Iraqis themselves
what kind of government and life they can make for themselves. I wish
them all the best. We did not create the conflict and mayhem there.
It had been going on for hundreds and hundreds of years. We helped
put an end to a particularly ugly chapter of the conflict and gave
them an opportunity to have peace if they will have it while protecting
ourselves from a real imminent threat of terrorism even without
weapons of mass destruction. A strong case can be made for the
confrontation and ouster of Saddam Hussein.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SneP29XbOw

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2846365.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halabja_poison_gas_attack

http://www.usaid.gov/iraq/legacyofterror.html

Do I need to remind people which President was in office when Saddam got into power, and who helped Saddam get into power? Mr. Peanut himself, Jimmy "Pansy" Carter.

I have come to the conclusion that it matters not if its dem or republican they are two wings of the same bird when it comes to supporting the military industrial complex.

yea he did all that with american aid. We looked the other way as long as he was danceing to our tune.

Nonsense. Although he was the recipient of aid from the U.S. and others previously for various reasons, Saddam did these things
without the knowledge, cooperation or approval of those who had provided aid to him at earlier times. To suggest otherwise is
simply ridiculous and inaccurate. Read the links cited above.

Takeing a deep breath and trying not to laugh. There is a famouse vid all over the net showing rumsfeld shakeing saddams hand well after he gassed the Kurds. Realy I wish I could live in the fantasy world of US propaganda. Reality is far harder to deal with. A quick google would show the US lent Saddam another Billion after he gassed the Kurds, and lets not forget how the US stood by after Iraq 1 while he slaughtered them again.

When I was in Europe, at the beginning of the 80s. Part of the US War plan in case Russia attacked, were to use battlefield nukes, fired by artillery, to blow a hole in the USSR's lines.
Then rush 100s of thousands of troops through the radioactive hole.

Europe is probably 10-20 times as densely populated as the Kurdish part of Iraq. Yet, I never heard a single plan to warn the civilian population in advance of using the nukes, or biological, or chemical weapons.

Do you think the US military would have hesitated to kill thousands of European citizens had Russia attacked?

Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam is hardly an endorsement of genocide. Sure the U.S. supplied about $40B to Iraq during the
war with Iran but the Kurds were gassed after the war was over
and it was not approved or condoned by the U.S.

Shortly thereafter Saddam invaded Kuwait and we were at war.

All of this pales in comparison with the $157B which has been
expended since the toppling of Saddam to help reconstruct Iraq.

So basically - yeah - you got nothing. The U.S. supported Iraq
during the Iran-Iraq war as the lesser of two evils and as a
counterbalance to the radical Islamic Iranian theocracy. That
support did not extend to condoning any of Saddams atrocities.
When Saddam supported terrorism and invaded Kuwait we stopped him.
On your side of the argument you have a video of a handshake
with Rumsfeld which proves nothing.

speculation....doesn't matter

Do I need to remind people which President was in office when Saddam got into power, and who helped Saddam get into power? Mr. Peanut himself, Jimmy "Pansy" Carter.

and who helped Saddam get into power


Poppycock!

It proves simply that what the US says publicly is propaganda and what it does behind closed doors is the reality. One can choose to live in a propagated world and drink the coolaid or one can search out the facts and make logical conclusions based on the real evidence. The fact that we paid lip service to genocide and then lent Iraq another billion tells me all I need to know as it should any thinking human being.

Doesn't tell you or anyone else squat.

Every country has public positions, propaganda and backdoor diplomacy. So what big deal. The U.S. can take pride in not
supporting genocide and for supporting Iraq's efforts against
the Iran theocrats and also for supporting Kuwait in liberating
them from Saddam later. We did not pay lip service to genocide
and any support of foreign governments has generally been done
for humanitarian reasons or to bolster U.S. allies or interests.

It is simply naive or ignorant to fail to understand such
motivations and then construct unsubstantiated conspiracies about
the U.S. Govt. It is also paranoid and delusional.

Saddam became President in 1979.