In article .com, wrote:

Doug Miller wrote:
In article 01,
Nate Perkins wrote:


What I said was that Iraq had no WMDs and no ties to Al Qaeda, and
therefore the primary stated reasons for war have been debunked.


Those were not the "primary stated reasons" for the war, as you
continue to
falsely claim; rather, they were two reasons among many. And neither
one has
been "debunked" as you falsely claim: It's not proven that Iraq had
no WMDs,
and they definitely *did* have ties to al Qaida and numerous other
terror
organizations.

By your own count Bush devoted more than twice as much of the
speech previously discussed to those two issue than to all other
issues combined. Surely one may reasonably infer that those
two issues were primary.

Maybe you should go back and read that again...

As to it not being proven that Iraq had no WMD that is and will
always be true. Bush knew that was a demand that could never
be met. It will never be proven that the Vatican had no WMD,
nor you nor I.

The point is not that Iraq was expected to prove a negative, but rather that
the UN required Iraq to open its facilities to free and unfettered inspection,
and to destroy its prohibited arms under UN supervision so that everyone would
know what they had, and what happened to it. Iraq did neither, and
consequently we are left guessing on both counts.

In any event, it's beginning to look like the administration wasn't as far off
the mark in this respect as many would have us believe:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/13/in...st/13loot.html

As to having ties to Al Queda that is at best an exaggeration.
There is evidence of at most a couple of meetings between Iraqi
officials and members of Al Queda. Meanwhile, the State Department
publihsed a list of about 30 nations in which Al Queda operated.
Iraq was not on the list.

Obviously Iraq was not nearly as closely tied to al Qaida as the Taliban were;
just the same, it's a falsehood to claim (as some have) that there was no
connection whatever between the two. Iraq's stronger ties with other terror
organizations, and individual terrorists, are well known.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?