I'm reposting this answer from another thread:
To prevent Hussein from producing, distrubuting and using WMDs. There can be no doubt he was trying to gain a nuclear capability, and the administration was not going to give him any more time.
To eliminate a regieme that consistently threatens its neighbors, who just so happen to produce a large amount of the worlds oil supply.
To prevent further support of terrorism from Hussein and his cronies.
To free the people of Iraq, thereby destablizing the other autocratic regeimes in the area.
Finally, because Hussein was in material breach of the CEASE FIRE he signed with the US at the end of the Gulf War. This fact alone was justification enough for his removal.
That isn't a complete list, of course. Just enough to show the lie that this was all about current stocks of WMDs present in the country at the time of attack.
Now of course none of these reasons will be good enough for you, but then again, they aren't meant to be. These reasons were put forth by the administration prior to the war. And since the polls show a vast majority of the people would still support the invasion even if WMDs aren't found, it would seem the President did a good enough job getting it out to most people.
To eliminate a regieme that consistently threatens its neighbors, who just so happen to produce a large amount of the worlds oil supply.Who has he seriously threatened since Kuwait? Isreal I will say yes to. But I don't much oil production from them
To prevent further support of terrorism from Hussein and his cronies.There has been no definitive link between Saddam, Iraq and terrorism. Sure some of the people involved in terrorism live in Iraq. They also live in Egypt, Saudi Arabia (where most of the 9/11 crew was from), Iran and for that matter in just about every country in the world. It does appear that Saddam did reach out to Osama, but we don't know for what reason nor does it appear that anything grew from it.
To free the people of Iraq, thereby destablizing the other autocratic regeimes in the area.Now that's a worthy goal. But we don't know that's what is going to happen. Instead of one known nutcase, we may have many. Many but not all in Iraq wanted freedom from Saddam. Few want Westernization. They will have to understand our values and want them in order for their attitudes to change about us. This may take years. It may never be realized.
Finally, because Hussein was in material breach of the CEASE FIRE he signed with the US at the end of the Gulf War. This fact alone was justification enough for his removal.I'll give you this one too. He was in violation. But the material breach was not often talked about and highlighted when making the point that an invasion was necessary.An active WMD program was. The WMD issue was emotional so it was heavily used. And Saddam was the perfect villan from an American perspective. It's why there's been so little reaction from the public when WMD's are discussed. Saddam was bad so he got what was coming is how most people view this. Not whether what was said to the citizens and the world was factual or correct. I seem to remember that most on this site favored going after Slick when public opinion indicated otherwise. It was a matter of principal. Same standard should be held to here for Bush. IF.....and I'm saying IF this (WMD issue) was manipulated on purpose, then it needs investigated.