[The Old Hoosier]

A valid point on the Gulf War, but we did what we had to, and we still had twelve years after that of relative peace, intermittently broken by a plane being (unsuccessfully) fired on. Even in the final run-up to the war, there was no violent provocation -- just a persistent unwillingness to live by our terms.

Which is why the Clinton administration called for his overthrow.

You're not going to have to twist my arm to make me say Clinton was wrong.

We now know that whatever WMD Hussein had, it was pretty underwhelming. Even once we'd invaded, there was still hope that this would come out okay. As soon as we figured out the WMD situation, it was time to install someone we liked as dictator and go home. That's the way we used to do it.

[uncbob]

Saddam tried to assassinate former president Bush

Kadafy gave up his Nuke program

And I guess Saddam booted out the inspectors so he could play Nitendo games in peace and just what would he have been doing the last 3 years

[RobbyS]

Well, we didn't have to install a dictator. We did have to install a government. I still can't figure out why we didn't establish a government from the exiles. What I gather that the administration was divided, with state and the CIA on one side and Defense on the other, with Rice refereeing.