Gerani, why don't you look at another perspective: You are the President. You get some reports that Al-Quaida is planning an attack, but you ALWAYS get reports that they are planning an attack...the CIA is trying to stop the threat of Al-Quaida, but they are being harbored in Afghanistan and you know if you send forces there "unprovoked" no one will support it. Then 9/11 happens, and you could have stopped it, if only you had taken the precautionary measures and somehow convinced the public and the U.N. that Afghanistan was a threat (which would have been practically impossible before 9/11).
Now, you look at another threat that has been growing...Saddam Hussein. The CIA informs you that we know, for a FACT, that Saddam had VX gas, Mustard gas, etc. etc. and could have a lot more. You know for a FACT that Saddam is a crazy madman who once stated that his biggest mistake ever was not finishing his first nuclear weapon BEFORE he invaded Kuwait. You know for a fact that Saddam will never cooperate with U.N. inspections unless extreme force is threatened, and even then he still may not cooperate as his behavior is often irrational (he never believed the U.S. would have enough international/public support to use force to get him out of Kuwait).
So, you take action: you send a huge force to Saudi Arabia to put the pressure on Saddam, and get things moving in the U.N. to get inspections going again, but Saddam continues his old tricks--the tiny amount of cooperation the inspectors get comes at the immense cost of keeping all those troops nearby indefinitely. Then, France, Germany, and Russia start backing down, insisting on longer inspections etc. These actions only make Saddam more confident that Europe and the American public will never support a war against him...he thinks you're bluffing, and does not intend to change his ways.
So, to sum it up: you can't keep troops in Saudi Arabia much longer, and with summer coming an invasion may cost more American lives. You know Saddam had WMD's, you know he wanted to get more, and you know he will never stop trying to get them and use them. You know U.N. inspections CANNOT WORK without the full cooperation of Saddam Hussein. The scariest thing of all, though, is what you do not know...you do not know how close Saddam is to his next nuclear weapon, and you do not know when he plans to make a move and invade one of his neighbors again...this time, perhaps with a dirty bomb waiting to go off in New York if the U.S. tries to interfere.
Here is my question: what do you do? Do you think you can somehow 'convince' Saddam to stop trying to get nukes/WMD's without actually using force? Would it be acceptable to you to know that Saddam had WMD's, Saddam wants to use WMD's, and we DON'T KNOW if he has them right now? Are you willing to risk another 9/11?
Bush didn't lie....it's a fact that Saddam had WMD's, and some canisters of Mustard gas were found. Either most of the WMD's were shipped to other countries, hidden, or destroyed without Saddam's knowledge (or the world's). We don't know what happened to them, but it's a fact that they were there.
