http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1121-11.htm
PS FAQ: Should we have gone to war?
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This is a huge and critical question. Opinons change over time. Hindsight is 20-20, but read
below to start to answer the question. One view is "The
Vanishing Case for War" by Thomas Powers in the New York Times
Review of Books. Powers' 11 page argument of December 2003 sees
events of August 2002-May 1, 2003 as "an object lesson in secrecy and
its hazards." Powers is author of the book Intelligence
Wars. http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1121-11.htm |
One odd comment from the President in July of 2004 was, "We
gave [Saddam] a chance to let the inspectors in, and he wouldn't let them
in. And, therefore, we decided to remove him from power." (White
House web site)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/07/20030714-3.html
Some answer the question by focusing on the lack of WMD and Al-Qaeda connections, while other focus on bringing Democracy to the Middle East and not trusting a dictator.
In terms of American polling, a new high of 56%
say the cost of the war outweighs the benefits. This ABC poll was from
December of 2004.
http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines04/1221-02.htm
For more and updated polls, see Congress and Polls and see "US Politics '06"