Sonnny - you forget one thing.... 🙂
I've been trying to figure out when Iraq became about terrorism.
My take is it never was, until all the other excuses fell through, and luckily (sarcastic comment unless politics is more important than reality then it is true) the terrorists moved into Iraq after we created the right conditions for them to drain our resources....much like they did the soviets.
This back door, front porch, back of the chevy, wherever argument just doesn't stick with me.
That said, I went back and read Powells address to the UN. As you recall, Saddam had WMDs (chemical), was close to nukes, the UN inspecters are inept, lying, being manipulated, Saddam is out of control and an immediate danger to everything and everyone.
The rest the world that disagrees with that are just being blind, selfish or manipulative. We know better than them, because we have intel they dont.
I waited and waited in that speech for the Adlai Stevenson moment and it never came.....because it wasn't there. Thats when I soured on the thing.....I was with them on afghan. and gave the benefit of the doubt on Iraq until it came clear that soemthing was amiss.
When we found we were wrong we convienently morphed it into the war on terror.
That said, while Powell was throwing every excuse including the kitchen sink on the table....none of which resonated thus we were forced to act w/o the UN, he did throw out a line or two about an iraqi agent meeting in a hotel (was it in brussels...I don't remember) with a bad man.....presumaby a terrorist but not much came of that.
We are there. I support the military. I don't want an immediate pull out. But my BS detector is high on this one. I'm not even suggesting change......I'm just not swallowing the whole pill.