dianavan:

"I am astounded that beardedbruce (or anyone else for that matter) attempts to equate empty shell casings and one incident of sarin with stockpiles of WMD."

The empty shell casings were US.
The stockpile of empty WARHEADS were Iraqi.

"1. Saddam is no longer 'in charge' of Iraq. Blame those who are there to liberate and restore order. In other words, that was then and this is now. It is no longer Saddam's responsibility."

The warheads were found during the combat phase: They are examples of the weapons that the Iraqis had avaiable.

"2. Anyone can make sarin."

True- so the empty warheads were significant.

"3. Shell casings can be make to contain whatever ..."

Yes, BUT warheads for chemical weapons are different than ones for DP or HE. Shell casings are the containers that hold the powder used to propel the warhead.

"4. How many people have been killed in Iraq by weapons since the invasion of Iraq?"

By weapons? "

"1. An instrument of offensive of defensive combat; something
   to fight with; anything used, or designed to be used, in
   destroying, defeating, or injuring an enemy, as a gun, a
   sword, etc."



"I mean, cmon, if my child is killed; do I really care if its from a WMD or a bullet or a bomb? "

Nope. So when someone threatens you with such a killing, why do you not want to take steps to protect yourself?

"I'll say this much for Bush: he has definitely succeeded in scaring beardedbruce out of his wits"

No again- it is the terrorists who have attacked us, those who support them, and those who make excuses for them that scare me out of my wits. I grew up during the Cold war- we had drills where we would hide beneath our desks at school, in case of attack. I have faced the fact that the policy of the United States, of MAD, merely means that when I would be killed, a lot of the enemy would, as well. And the whole principle was based on the idea that the other side would value their own lives. In the present situation, while we still have the same deterrence, the other side seems willing to suffer far more than the damage they inflict- this is counter-survival, but it is deadly to us.

The BEST way to force this country into a dictatorship is to have an outside threat that cannot be reasoned with, cannot be stopped, and continues regardless of what we do- this allows a would-be dictator to assume vast "temporay" powers that threaten our way of life.

The problem is, all of us seem to have different ideas of how to stop the terrorists. Some seem to think that we should give them what they ask for, some that we should kill them all. One has to look at the consequences of one's opinions if one is incorrect: If I give them what they want, and they kill me (and my children, and your children...) anyway, how much better off am I?