"bearing in mind that the US has, by far and away, the biggest stock of WMDs on earth" Strolling Johnny that statement of yours was incorrect, I merely pointed that out, as you yourself said, you could have put the point that you were trying to make without that lie.

MGOH:
"Saddam killed an awful lot of people, largely during the years when he was seen as a friend to be supported by Washington, that's true enough."

Kevin can you recall the names of those friendly and supportive US citizens who served in the capacity as US Ambassador in Baghdad in the period 1967 to 2003? Can you explain why, whilst being supported by Washington, during Saddam Hussein's time in power the arms purchased by his regime for his armed forces were supplied exclusively by Russia, China and France.


As for,"....in more recent times he'd had to pull in his claws". I believe that change of heart had been brought about by the following contributing factors:
- The defeat of his armed forces in Desert Storm
- The presence of British and American Marines in the Kurdish North immediately after Desert Storm
- The imposition of the Northern and Southern No-Fly Zones
- The imposition of UN Sanctions

All of which, as I recollect you objected to.