That should end it though. Firing on our pilots was an act of war. And Hussein didn't do it just once but literally thousands of times. 9/11 taught us, or should have taught us, that when someone declares war on you either by word or deed, you have no choice but to respond in kind. The invasion of Iraq in 2003 was simply a response to that new or, more accurately, old reality.
You are right.
Well, damn! You'd think that lesson would have been learned from 12/7 rather than 9/11. It's a shame that we, as a nation, have to re-learn the same lesson...