To our liberal friends

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

It's not hard to imagine why Saddam played those games, its the only bargaining chip he had.

"The Bluff" is the oldest trick in the book

How did I miss this one, now I have heard it all, Saddam is a victim. He had too, it was the only option we gave him, good grief.

"Victim" isn't quite what I was thinking of. But its very obvious why he might play up rumours of WMD.

Why else do *we* have nuclear weapons? Not because we intend to use them, but because it acts as a deterrent against attack. In Saddam's case its clear he intended to use rumours of WMD to guarantee his power.

Ah yes - the coalition of the bullied and the bribed.

Germany and France have supported the US in the past, so... exaggerate much?

Your really downplaying the discontent that France had for the US, no need to act like we were best buds. At best it was a love/hate relationship.

I bet you're one of those "freedom fries" guys.

Afghanistan, Albania, Australia - 2,000, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Poland - 200, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom - 46,000and Uzbekistan.

Azerbaijan and Albania - FTW!

Don't forget Eritrea and Ethiopia - two nations at conflict with each other both looking for US support. Or the Eastern European countries that were looking for US support in jointing NATO. Or the $8.5 billion loans granted to Turkey that, while not linked with their participaton in this coalition, were "contingent" upon coopertion on Iraq.

Yeah the coalition of the "bullied and bribed"!

That title sure didn't come out of nowhere.

[_Simpson_ 250]

It's not hard to imagine why Saddam played those games, its the only bargaining chip he had.

"The Bluff" is the oldest trick in the book

How did I miss this one, now I have heard it all, Saddam is a victim. He had too, it was the only option we gave him, good grief.

"Victim" isn't quite what I was thinking of. But its very obvious why he might play up rumours of WMD.

Why else do *we* have nuclear weapons? Not because we intend to use them, but because it acts as a deterrent against attack. In Saddam's case its clear he intended to use rumours of WMD to guarantee his power.

Having Nukes in hands of Saddam is not the same as having them in our hands, I know exactly what he was thinking,more power = more respect. Now lets face it Nukes in his hands couldnt be trusted. Saddam had plenty of power and it would of never been threatened if we of just complied to reasonable requests, but he just went about it in your typical dictator manner, his thirst for power would of never ended and could you just imagine if he did obtain Nukes, do you think he would of kept to himself and been a perfect gentlemen?

To act like we backed him into a corner is ridiculous. We gave him plenty of options just not the options he wanted.

[_Simpson_ 250]

No, we do not agree that the inspections were a joke. Not the inspections that were underway and carried out effectively starting in November of 2002. Those inspections were what they should have been all along.

Many other countries supported the US in this effort? The list is below and I highlighted and enriched with the troop committment those nations that were actually \"willing\" to support the invasion - there were 3 providing 48,200 troops altogether, with the UK sending 46,000, Australia sending 2,000 and Poland committing a whopping 200 troops to the effort.

The troop committment post invasion - for the occupation period - was as low as 2 troops (Iceland) and as high as 3,200 toops (South Korea). The vast majority of those troops were withdrawn starting in 2004 (9 nations) and ending in July 2009 when Australia and the UK pulled the last of their troops out of the country.

Afghanistan, Albania, Australia - 2,000, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Poland - 200, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom - 46,000and Uzbekistan.

At that time Saddam was still playing his games, remember he wanted us to believe he had WMDs. Major reason he played these games.

As far as what countries supported us and what troops I know the facts. In your eyes how many troops would it take for you too call the support legit? That said I know a lot of these countries was hoping that we wouldn't go to war. Did we have there full support, no but I think they understood our reasons and felt for us. I think way to many people are far too passive. Many wouldnt support a war 100% unless the enemy was on there doorstep and making a argument for a preemptive attack is almost impossible, I see this as big problem.