[JohnHuang2]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Allies? No, just two dopes endangering the world by aiding and abetting a known agressor and tyrant.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder(R) and French President Jacques Chirac pose in front of the Reichstag parliamentary building in Berlin on January 23, 2003. Washington's key allies France and Germany said they would do all they could to prevent a war in Iraq as Middle East nations met on Thursday to discuss ways of avoiding a potentially destabilizing conflict. (Reuters)

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[Victoria Delsoul]

Bush's rhetoric has climbed down from "regime change" to "disarmament," and there hasn't been much talk lately about spreading the seed of democracy throughout the Middle East, so it is entirely plausible Saddam could be replaced by a U.S.-friendly nukes-shunning despot no more liberal than the horrendous extended family that misrules Saudi Arabia.

This scenery is totally plausible, and I also agree that it is increasingly difficult to imagine Saddam Hussein holding the same office much beyond the current mid-March deadline. As this article indicates, it is unlikely that Powell, Cheney or Rumsfeld would sign off on a deployment intended only for show, not tell.