Presidential Debate

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Some people think we are driven by greed, and perhaps some US corporations or politicians are that morally bankrupt.  But, my sincere opinion is that since Iraq had the means and the will to divert their wealth into weapons to destroy us, then we had to get involved to prevent that.  It appears now that we were early in needing to preempt that perceived threat, but we tilted at that windmill anyway.  We broke it, and now we are stuck rebuilding it.
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EDIT - I realized after posting this that it’s quite a bit off-topic, and that Kandrathe definitely didn't mean what I quoted in the context I put it in and I apologize for that. I fact, I think he was saying the same thing I am more or less, that America was a little quick to rush into the war, however he feels compelled to believe the war was neccessary to remove Sadam, whereas I disagree wholeheartedly.

I'm sorry? Excuse me but maybe I'm missing something along the lines of they had no weapons of mass destruction. Just because a country has a "means" to an end is no reason to invade them. If that were the case then other countries would be invading the USA all the time. Not to mention, IF that were the case as justification to why we invaded Iraq, then why haven't we invaded other countries with even more means, such as Korea or Pakistan? Give me a break! I respect you kandrathe, but that logic just makes me sick!

You should read current events:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6190720/

Here’s my two favorite parts:

WASHINGTON - Contradicting the main argument for a war that has cost more than 1,000 U.S. lives, the top U.S. arms inspector reported Wednesday that he had found no evidence that Iraq produced weapons of mass destruction after 1991. He also concluded that Saddam Hussein’s weapons capability weakened, not grew, during a dozen years of U.N. sanctions before the U.S. invasion last year.

Contrary to prewar statements by President Bush and top administration officials, Saddam did not have chemical and biological stockpiles when the war began and his nuclear capabilities were deteriorating, not advancing, said Charles Duelfer, head of the Iraq Survey Group.

Bush made the case
“Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction,” Vice President Dick Cheney said in a speech Aug. 26, 2002, 6½ months before the invasion. “There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies and against us.”

The president made similar charges, laying out what he described as Iraq’s threat in a speech on Oct. 7, 2002:

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• “It possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons.”
  
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• “We’ve also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas.”
  
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• “Iraq possesses ballistic missiles with a likely range of hundreds of miles — far enough to strike Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey and other nations — in a region where more than 135,000 American civilians and service members live and work. “
  
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  Instead, U.S. inspectors found only limited signs of the banned weapons after the active fighting ended. Among the findings:
  
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  • A single artillery shell from Saddam’s pre-1991 stockpile was filled with two chemicals that, when mixed while the shell was in flight, would have created sarin. U.S. forces learned of it only when insurgents, apparently believing it was filled with conventional explosives, tried to detonate it as a roadside bomb in May in Baghdad. Two U.S. soldiers suffered from symptoms of low-level exposure to the nerve agent.
    
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  • Another old artillery shell, also rigged as a bomb and found in May, showed signs that it once contained mustard agent.
    
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  • Two small rocket warheads, turned over to Polish troops by an informer, showed signs that they once were filled with sarin.
    
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  • Centrifuge parts were found buried in a former nuclear scientist’s garden in Baghdad. These were part of Saddam’s pre-1991 nuclear program, which was dismantled after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The scientist also had centrifuge design documents.
    
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  • A vial of live botulinum toxin, which can be used as a biological weapon, was found in another scientist’s refrigerator. The scientist said it had been there since 1993.
    
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  • Evidence emerged of advanced design work on a liquid-propellant missile with ranges of up to 620 miles. Since the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq had been prohibited from having missiles with ranges longer than 93 miles.
    
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