BB: True, and the option of combat, to achieve what 14 years of other options had failed , and had no chance of being successful in the future, seems like a good example.

Ummm, first off, the post-war inspections showed that the "14 years of other options" did indeed work. Secondly, the renewed inspections, under even more permissive circumstances, were reaffirming precisely this. Why you continue to insist on things that are counter to fact is mystifying.

[Arne]: "Once again, who, beside yourself and similar HW apologists, thought that a "state of war" existed?"

BB: The Iraqis, from all their actions.

That's pretty lame. Care to try again.

FWIW, if you are insisting that the attacks on the "no-fly-zone" patrols were a state of war, you have a pretty poor idea of what a state of war is. In point of fact, the U.S. instituted the "no-fly" zones unilaterlally, and without U.N. approval. If anyone else flew ove the U.S. with armed warplanes against its wishes, one would harldy insist that the U.S. had started a war if it decide to fire on those planes; in fact, it would be the nation that sent the planes that would be the aggressor, and if such nation desisted or refrained from such, no state of war would pertain. The U.S. planes repeatedly bombed radar sites, communications facilities, and even did test probes and other provocative acts beyond the "no-fly" zones, just to try and get the Iraqis to light up the radars and then to locate and in some cases blow these up. And not a single U.S. plane was brought down by the Iraqis, not a single pilot hurt. Then there were the cruise missile attacks in 1998 and other times. Attacking another nation is hardly a justification for attacking that other nation.

That being said, "state of war" is a more formal legal concept than you seem to be suggesting here.

BB: You did not answer this... You can't use the reports to support your own points if you do not allow me to use them to support mine.

Ummm, what exactly did you wish to point out in the U.N. reports? Please be specific, and I'll try to answer.

Cheers,