4/16    Blix will save us and lend us credibility!  And oh yeah, let's make
        the Middle East nuclear free so it's safe for Arabs to attack Israel
        again!  Gotta love those ultra leftist Europeans for their transparency
        http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44572-2003Apr17.html
        \_ 1. The Bushies have yet to show us the proof that either Iraq or
              Syria have WMD.
              \_ I'm sure the childish little ding on their name lends much
                 credibility in the circles you walk in.  I don't care if
                 there isn't a single WMD in the entire country.  There's
                 24+ million people now free of brutal oppression.  Does that
                 mean *nothing* to you?
                 \_ It does.  And if things turn out well that will be great.
                    But if you remember the whole reason for the war in the
                    first place was SADDAM HAD WMDS AND WE HAD TO GET THEM
                    BEFORE HE GAVE THEM TO TERRORISTS.
                    \_ Saddam is gone.  Things have already turned out well.
                       And there were many reasons to go into Iraq.  I don't
                       care which of the 15-20 announced reasons you'd like
                       to latch on to.  I'm happy that Saddam is out of power
                       and maybe dead, that the Baath party in Iraq is dead,
                       that the Kurds are free, that the Shi'ites are free,
                       that there's one less country supporting terrorists,
                       and that finally the US is properly feared and
                       respected as the super power it is and not a paper
                       tiger willing to be bound by the dictates of the
                       jealous and bitter weaklings who dominate the UN who
                       would love to take advantage of our generally good
                       nature to fuck us over, keep us down, and then spit
                       on our graves once we bowed to "the international
                       community", whatever *that* is.
                       \_ Wow. Can we meet so I can do a psych profile on
                          on you and the roots of your aggression against
                          the world?
                       \_ Did our "generally good nature" also led us to
                          support such lovely rulers like Pinochet,
                          Marcos, Suharto, ... , and yes, Mr. Hussein
                          himself?   Not to mention Mr. Bin Laden too.
                       \_ Things have not turned out yet. Things are still
                          in motion. The war continues.
           2. Israel does not need nukes to deter an attack from its
              neighbors-- its military forces and its superior battlefield
              technology do that.
              \_ So the Israelis wasted their time and money on the nukes?
                 Maybe you should write a letter to their embassy explaining.
                 While you're at it you might explain how their conventional
                 forces will help deter anything when (not if) some nuthead
                 gets nukes in the region.  Which military college or school
                 of international affairs did you get your PhD from, btw?
                 \_ It is not as easy to build/acquire nuclear weapons
                    as you imply.  Do some research before you spread panic.
                    Next, as things stand now (as opposed to your pre-
                    Armaggedon fantasy), the Israeli military and its
                    level of tech are sufficiently superior to their
                    neighbors to deter a conventional attack.  The nukes
                    are a nice piece of insurance, admittedly, but they
                    are not the end-all of military preparedness or
                    deterrence.
           \_ And you would know because you've previously ruled a place the
              size of California and know that it's hard to hide stuff in a
              place so small?
                \_ well they swore they had proof of WMDs, so you would think
                   that me[a]nt(sp) they had some idea WHERE THEY WERE.
                   \_ I wouldn't think that at all.  Why would you think that?
        \_ And, not that it really seems to matter to the current
           administration, but our credibility is short on this point.
           Blix was correct in saying 'internationally backed inspections
           would have "considerably more credibility."'
           \_ Credibility?  With who?  I'd rather know that Americans were
              there and come up with whatever is or isn't there then go along
              with the spy infested anti-American UN inspections team who now
              has even less incentive to prove Iraq had WMD.
              \_ The world outside of the US and Britain does matter, no
                 matter how much the Bush apoligists try to deny it. It is
                 amusing to see how Bush's rhetoric has changed entirely
                 from talking about WMD to "freedom." "The Iraqi's are
                 liberated!" conquest==liberation in Bushspeak