surely (pogo) you dont think GWB really believed there were WMDs in Iraq.
They needed a reason to convince the public to go along with the invasion. Thats why when the UN succeeded in getting more inspections on the ground the US changed tactics and said that it wasnt enough
they wanted regime change.

the most convincing reason I believe they went into Iraq is because of their idea of transforming the middle east from despotic dictatorships into jeffersonian democracies. (the only trouble was that it was an infantile fantasy_ - Dick Cheney "we will be greeted as liberators" - that might have worked if they didnt screw up so much.

GWB said he would do everything all over again, which is simply astounding.. even allowing the looting? not bringing enough troops to secure the peace (because Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz felt Shinsekis estimate of the troops required was 'wildly off the mark',
disbanding the Iraqi army?
thereby creating an instant cadre of armed, embittered and idle young men.

and basically after Abu Ghraib the US lost any moral authority it had
in ousting Saddam.

(why should americans care? about what the rest of the world thinks-
well Id say that the next time the US wants to build a coalition, to topple some dictatorship - who's going to take them seriously?

and whether they like it or not, the US is part of a global economy which is constantly evolving - your jobs are heading over to CHina and INdia.

- and if Americans think that the European Union (which is fast becoming a much bigger political coalition with twice the US population) hasnt much political clout - look at what they did earlier this year when the EU threatened huge tarrifs on steel (especially in states that Bush needed) the US quickly backed down.
didnt make much news in the US.