Now then dianavan, let's see what was said and was done shall we:

February, 1998 - Clinton's speech that warned of the threat to the United States of America posed by Saddam's Iraq, Iraq's WMD and the possibility of them teaming up with an international terrorist group.

December, 1998 - Clinton advises the UN's UNSCOM Inspectors to leave Iraq. For years they have been reporting that they are being harrassed by the Iraqi Authorities, they are not receiving the co-operation that they should expect in terms of the Safwan agreements and that Iraq is running an extremely comprehensive deception scheme to mask and protect their WMD programmes.

October, 1998 - Clinton enacts "The Iraq Liberation Act", regime change in Iraq is now official US Government Policy.

December, 1998 - Clinton, goes it alone, unleashes an aerial assault on Iraq "Operation Desert Fox". This he does unilaterally without going to the UN.

Now reaction to all of the above was all fairly muted, certainly nowhere near the outcry that we have heard regarding the path trodden by GWB. Now let's see what he did.

11th September, 2001 - Al-Qaeda strike at mainland USA in a series of suicide attacks. In the immediate aftermath, Joint House Security Committee and US Intelligence Agencies are tasked with evaluating greatest threat to USA. They identify precisely the same threat idntified in Clinton's speech of three years before. Not surprising really as basically the same people are involved.

November, 2001 - Taleban "Government" of Afghanistan overthrown by Northern Alliance Forces aided by US. Over the fact that Osama Bin Laden was based in Afghanistan, GWB's Administration, through the auspices of UN, requested that the Taleban handover Osama Bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda leadership, the Taleban refused.

January, 2002 - State of the Union Address, defines the two pronged approach to combating international terrorism.

September, 2002 - US goes to the UNSC and requests that the UN act to resolve the outstanding matters related to Iraq.

October 11, 2002 - The United States Congress passed the "Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002", giving U.S. President George W. Bush the authority, under US law, to attack Iraq if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein did not give up his weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and abide by previous UN resolutions on human rights, POWs, and terrorism

November 9, 2002 - At the urging of the United States government, the UN Security Council passed United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441, offering Iraq "a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations" that had been set out in several previous resolutions (Resolutions 660, 661, 678, 686, 687, 688, 707, 715, 986, and 1284), notably to provide "an accurate full, final, and complete disclosure, as required by Resolution 687 (1991), of all aspects of its programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles".

March 17, 2003 - Bush Administration demands Hussein and his two sons Uday and Qusay to surrender and leave Iraq, giving them a 48-hour deadline. This demand was reportedly rejected.

March 20, 2003 - Invasion of Iraq by a Coalition of 48 UN member states.

So there was a "rush" to strike at Iraq was there dianavan? Certainly by Clinton who said. "This is not a cause for a panic. It is a cause for serious, deliberate, disciplined long-term concern" or in other words within 10 months. He then attacked Iraq unilaterally and without consulting the UNSC. Bush on the other hand, seems to have "rushed" for the best part of two years before going to the UNSC. The actions of GWB and his Administration were instrumental in enabling the UNMOVIC Inspectors to resume inspections inside Iraq. As reports of lack of co-operation on the part of Iraqi Authorities US warns Iraq and the UN that if they will not act America will. Saddam Hussein is given every opportunity to comply in order to avoid a conflict, all such opportunities are ignored.