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While many people will excuse this as being irrelevant for the reasons we went to war, I hope people realize that what these people were doing was making it possible for Saddam to get the sanctions removed. And as Kay has even mentioned, this would've been the first step for Saddam to reconstitute his WMD program as he would no longer be under the watchful eye of the UN. It isn't a coincidence that these people were not only against the war, but they were the leading proponents in getting Saddam a clean bill of health to resume his tyranny. These people need to pay.

I don't see it as irrelevant, and the point can be made that IF France and Russia had helped form a united front in the security council instead of telling Saddam that they would stop the US, then it is VERY likely that the Saddam would have backed down -- IF -- the security council had given a "date certain" ultimatum for him to prove once and for all that no WMDs existed....or else!

Something that had to be done given the terms after Desert Storm...that there was a cease fire, buy STILL a state of war, until Saddam complied.

I still support the decision to go in with just the US and the UK, but France and Russia (along with Germany) where who really made it necessary.

Saddam believed that -- with the help of France and Russia -- that he could play the give a little and then delay game forever....believing that the US would be afraid to go it alone, against permanent members of the security council.

ALSO, if properly presented, this (along with the well known debt owed to these countries) could help shut the dems up about the US alienating "long time allies" since they were NOT allies, but partners in crime with Saddam...this was in no way a political disagreement, the US was facing a conspiracy of greed.

The context of this, and how it came to the point of the invasion, has been lost by the narrow focus on what people claim were the only reason they went along...i.e. the Bush statements they now are parsing.

"I don't see it as irrelevant."

I know you and many of us don't...but I fear that others will ignore these little facts as they try to shift the spotlight to Bush and the reasons for war. There's alot of information out there...including favorable information from Kay's testimony, that is being deliberatley ignored and misrepresented, as they look to indict Bush. I hope Democrats attack these incriminations with the same vigor they attack Bush...but some how, I doubt it.