It was the WMD issue, and the WMD issue alone that manipulated enough votes in Congress to authorize this massive mistake. There is no way Congress would have authorized war otherwise. There was no popular political or poular support to take out Hussein just because he was Hussein. Bush knew this, hence the enormous WMD dog and phony show. This should be obvious to anyone.

And this is how it was sold to the uk public - remember the '45 mins from attack' rubbish. The public did NOT believe it, but TB went ahead anyway. Marvelous.

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Argument #22.

Kirk,
You insist on making it sound like that imbecile Bush was able to hoodwink the entire congress into thinking there were WMDs when EVERYONE knew there were no WMDs. Doesn't each member of Congress who voted for the war share in the blame? Or is that only for republicans? Doesn't Congress have their own sources of information? Seems to me, I remember democrats falling all over themselves to vote to approve the war--they didn't want Bush and the republicans to get all the credit.
If Bush is the dummy you proclaim him to be, how was he able to make the democrats follow him. He can't be both the dummy AND the evil genius.
Of course, if getting back into power is the goal, then consistency of approach is not a requirement---just keep on blaming the republicans--in a while you will be right.

Empty Argument #1

Nah, "empty" isn't definitive. Lots of empty arguments out tehre and not every one fits this occasion. #22 on the other hand, refers to the Same Ol' $hit that this same tired-assed exchange brings everytime it is invoked.

By simply refering to the number, we can take a short-cut and MoveOn.

I do not think Bush is a "dummy" - he is a skillful propagandist. I was also more disappointed in the Dems who rolled over, more than anything else, but the person who wanted and engineered this war is George Bush - I sincerely doubt Congress would have given a second thought to Iraq otherwise. Bob Grahman also has stated that much of what swayed Congress was information provided in secret sessions that turned out later to be blatantly false.

And Bob Graham, paragon of objectivity, was running for which high office?

Ad hominem attack, Empty Argument #2.

wmd's aside, do you still think the war is pointless? Is freeing people under an inhumane dictator pointless? I wonder if thats what people in the us thought back in 1938 when hitler was just starting to gain power. I dought many people thought he would actually murder 6 million jews.

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1993 400e
Charlotte

Yes, quite unequivocally a pointless waste of resources and human life. If you care to go gallivanting around the globe "rescueing" dudes and dames in "distress", then be my guest, but leave my tax dollars out of your fantasies. I'm afraid I've missed the Hitler analogy--what's the point...oh ya, it's must be a mustache thang.

To understand what the Congress voted for you have to read the resolution. It was to authorize the President to go to war as a last resort to protect us from Saddam's WMD arsenal. The steps to ensuring going to war was the last resort were laid out, and subsequently ignored. The President misused the authority he was given. The Congress, Dems and Republicans alike, did not vote to go to war as you and many others suggest. The responsibility for that decision rests solely with the President, no matter how much anyone wants to spread it around now that the WMD story is so obviously a big smelly charade.

Google and read the resolution. It specifically prohibits going in and rescuing the Iraqi people from Saddam. By the Congressional Resolutions standing and declared to be in effect, it is not legal. Suggesting, after the fact, that saving the Iraqis from Saddam was sufficient reason is a bull***** story that all you bleeding heart conservative bullies are lapping up faster than it can be created.

And Bot is right, we have gone around and around on this. Probably more than 22 times. He likes the war though, so he is willing to overlook the fact that the President and his cronies lied to America to make it happen. Rather than discuss that though, he encapsulates it in a hermetically sealed wrapper of sarcasm called "Argument #22" and dismisses the facts.

All that aside, how the hell do we get out before it consumes us? Jim

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the hitler analogy has to to with preemptive war

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1993 400e
Charlotte

And Bot is right, we have gone around and around on this. Probably more than 22 times. He likes the war though, so he is willing to overlook the fact that the President and his cronies lied to America to make it happen. Rather than discuss that though, he encapsulates it in a hermetically sealed wrapper of sarcasm called "Argument #22" and dismisses the facts. JimSmith

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Exactly right. And in this way, he is not unlike millions of others who were had in this fiasco. It is never easy to admitt that you were had. The stock formula, when confronted with having been had, is to resort to sarcasm and misdirection to deflect attention from the gaping holes in your one's thinking.

Joe B.

"But he tried to kill my daddy!" Favorite line of mine said by reigning POTUS. Hitler analogy is extreme but relevent. A man like Bush who evaded genuine military duty, failed consistently in business, is an alcholic and recovered dope fiend, and was saved by a televangelist preacher, now runs the country that granted him extra powerful powers to deal with the creators of 911. With that power this guy goes to war under proven and false reasons. Hell the UN did not even back him. All this for an attempt on daddy. Now if this doesn't sound ruthless I don't know what does.

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