[billbears]

That is like the anti-war crowd saying there were never really any WMDs, because we have not found any proof. We just haven't found it yet

And when will 'yet' come to the realization that they just weren't there? How hard is it for 'conservatives' to accept the fact that perhaps, just perhaps, the reasons given for the war weren't the actual reasons? That if some of those reasons were shared, many 'conservatives' would bolt like lightning from the agenda. Over $200 billion dollars later when will we find these weapons?

We were told to wait for Kay's report. Kay searched and found nothing more than rudimentary labs, if they could even be called that. How many more searches will it take? Surely with the cutting edge technology available to the DoD, if they were able to pinpoint where these weapons were (remember Powell's presentation of 'facts'?), surely the same technology should be able to tell us where these weapons are now.

What's the next nation on the neocon agenda? Iran? Well surely they must be in Iran...

[looscnnn]

First see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1036116/posts

"I am the one responsible for providing this information," al-Dabbagh, 40, told the Telegraph when shown the dossier. "It is 100 percent accurate."

"Forget 45 minutes, we could have fired these within half-an-hour," he was quoted as saying.

Now, he does not say what has happened to the stuff, but that they had it. Considering how large Iraq is, it is going to take time. Think back to the centrifuge under the rose bush at a scientist's home and the jets buried in the desert. Also, there have been reports that the stuff was trucked out of the country and is in Syria or Lebanon.

Second, the UN did not even enforce its own resolutions (which I think would involve military action if Iraq did not do as required).

I don't agree with the way we financed the war & rebuilding, there were/are other ways of doing it. The Lucom plan looks like an interesting way of taking care of people like Saddam and Bin Laden. I would have prefered doing loans, not grants, for the rebuilding.

As far as the next country (I am no neocon), I would take North Korea to task for threats they have made towards us.

I would also seriously start looking at China over the threats that have made towards us over Tiawan. I would go in front of the UN and demand they be held accountable, file some resolutions, etc. I realize that the UN will do nothing, but will give you a sense of who is on which side.

[optimistically_conservative]

How hard is it for 'conservatives' to accept the fact that perhaps, just perhaps, the reasons given for the war weren't the actual reasons?

There were four reasons consistently given for going to war with Iraq:

1. Iraq's continued non-compliance with, and active material breach of, UN resolutions (a.k.a. cease fire conditions) which arguably cover the next three.
2. Iraq's continued WMD ambitions.
3. Iraq's ties to terrorism.
4. Iraq's contined human rights violations.

(remember Powell's presentation of 'facts'?)

Kay searched and found nothing more than rudimentary labs, if they could even be called that.

The "Bush lied" mantra concerning WMD in Iraq is a dangerous gamble. I'm convinced Saddam had WMD in 1991, when we were exposed to chemical weapons at Khamisiyah and elsewhere during cleanup ops.

I think he still had them in 1995, when Kamel defected providing proof of Iraq's deception and continued efforts in it's WMD programs. To be fair, Kamel said Iraq did not possess WMD in 1995. He also said it really was a baby milk factory we bombed in 1991 (and again in 1998) and there was no military significance to the air defense shelter we bombed.^{39, 40} But the documents on his chicken farm and the discovery by Dr.Diane Seaman on 25 September 1997^{41, 42} throw into question Kamel's denials of weapons. In addition, remarks by Khidhir Hamza contradicted Kamel's claims, and in return Kamel attacked Hamza's credibility in the UN transcript.

There was consensus through 1998, 2001 and 2002 by the world's intelligence agencies (including the CIA, Canadians and BND), within Congress (including Democrats) and from UNMOVIC that Iraq was pursuing WMD. Viewing Kay's recent and future findings in light of historical documentation of Iraqi WMD programs harldly makes me more skeptical that they were there.

How many more searches will it take?

As many needed until we have a definitive answer. I want to know the what, when and where answered - period. If everyone was wrong for so long on this issue, I really want to know that without equivocation.