Posted 11:07 AM by Blah blah

War to "Make a Point"

Officials: 9/11 Was Main Reason for War (ABC News):

To build its case for war with Iraq, the Bush administration argued that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, but some officials now privately acknowledge the White House had another reason for war — a global show of American power and democracy....

Former CIA Director James Woolsey said on Nightline this week that although he believed Saddam was a serious threat and had dangerous weapons, going to war to prove a point was wrong.

"I don't think you should go to war to set examples or send messages," Woolsey said.

But what if Sept. 11 had never happened? Would the United States have gone to war with Iraq? Administration officials and others say no, at least not now.
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Don't you wish Bush and gang had to put their butts on the line regularly, like British leaders? They'd probably be less arrogant and heavy-handed if they were at the mercy of parliamentary votes. That shows what Tony Blair and Jack Straw did in March as real courage.

When Blair stood on the brink (The Guardian):

"Senior cabinet ministers at the centre of Tony Blair's war strategy were braced to quit along with the prime minister in the run-up to the Commons vote on Iraq, the Guardian can reveal.

Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, told the Guardian that he intended to resign if the vote went against the government. The home secretary, David Blunkett, also said that cabinet ministers close to Mr Blair would 'go down with him.' The prime minister revealed last week that he had told his family he might be forced to quit over Iraq."

Blair's secret war meetings with Clinton (The Guardian): "Tony Blair took repeated secret advice from the former American president Bill Clinton on how to unlock the diplomatic impasse between Europe and the US in the build-up to the war on Iraq, the Guardian can reveal." I'm happy he did and not surprised. They are friends and think alike on this issue. Go Tony!