Hussein was a paranoid recluse with numerous doubles and deception programs in place to prevent assasination, so the liklihood of being able to get to him was very slim. Besides, you then have the sons and numerous cousins, henchmen, etc. You'd have to have dozens of targets all hit quickly, then you still have to go in and get the WMD because, if not, they would still be up for grabs like they seem to be now. There are those (Kerry, Waxman, Kennedy, etc.) who will spin this by saying that Bush has further endangered the world by "allowing" the WMD to be dispersed, but, anyone who thinks Hussein was making them as a hobby or had no intention of not selling and/or distributing them to outsiders is simply fooling themselves.
So, if we did not invade, the WMD programs would still be operational and another year more advanced. The products would still be sold to al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, other countries, etc. The Bush-haters like to say that Hussein would not sell his WMD to bin Laden because he would then have his "fingerprints" on whatever attacks came as a result, but that is naive because he knows his fingerprints have already been found on the first World Trade Center attack and the attempt on former-President George H.W. Bush's life during a trip to Kuwait. This argument is just as flimsy as saying the secularist Hussein and Islamacist bin Laden would never collaborate.
The war was not a perfect option for getting rid of the WMD, but it was about the only one, given the corruption of the U.N., France, Germany, and Russia, the unseriousness of the Democrats in dealing with the problem, and the reckless, oppressive, and paranoid nature of the Hussein regime.
Most of these tales of "numerous doubles and deception programs in place" have since been disproved. The fact is, once the War began, the US Air Force had Hussein in their targets and bombed his luncheon deli appointment almost immediately after the Order was Given.
Yes, the Fly-boys missed him -- by maybe ten minutes. If that.
But the point is, the Target was acquired and an attempted Elimination prosecuted almost immediately after the War began.
What happened to all the alleged "Doubles", then?
Guess we knew whom we were aiming for, all along.
What if we had "given the order", on an Assassination basis, six months before?
Besides, you then have the sons and numerous cousins, henchmen, etc.
Kill them too. Facing a Level of Magnitude less security, in each case.
You'd have to have dozens of targets all hit quickly,
No, you don't. All you have to do is create Chaos at the Top.
What happens when you create Chaos at the Top of a Totalitarian Dictatorship? (Hint: it's not "Export the WMD's worldwide". Every player in the destabilized Regime is looking for his own Ace Card -- not trying to go out in a "blaze of glory", ala Saddam or Hitler)
then you still have to go in and get the WMD because, if not, they would still be up for grabs like they seem to be now.
No, the domestic destabilization of the Iraqi Regime would've created an incentive for rival claimants to secure control of Iraqi WMD's under their own banner, within Iraq.
It seems pretty obvious to me, but even if you think I'm wrong: what's the worst case scenario? Total Export of All Iraqi WMD's to Terrorist Organizations Worldwide? That's what happened anyway, according to this UN report.