IMO a sensible post...
Also, anyone serious about history/military reportings/researches will know full-well that USA (among other countries) has had plans in place for years to attack/disrupt either Iran or Iraq if opportunity presented & the risk could be mediated by the potential for success; specifically, having those two countries at odds w/each other has been considered by many to be in the best interests of oil-consuming North Americans.
Iraq's infrastructure is in a worse mess today than when the USA attacked Iraq; Iraq continues to teeter on the brink of a civil war; @1 USA soldier has died each day this war has gone on; @100 Iraqi civilians have died each day this war has gone on, & thousands & thousands have become displaced persons; no weapons of mass destruction have been found; no association with Sept 11 attack has been proven; oil continues to be a key target/interest; the average Iraqi's life is more difficult today rather than less difficult. How this "war" on terrorism has assisted "world peace," I'm sure I & many of my professional colleagues cannot say.
IMO I agree w/audiolab that the difference between a dictatorship run via intra-state terror tactics & terrorism tactics aimed at inter-state targets is far more than one of semantics.
Moreover, it seems we're wise to recognize that our NA medias are in the business of spin. From Vietnam we learned how upsetting things can get if/when the free-world media is not "controlled" to adequately represent state interests!
And yes, I do have relatives/friends fighting "over there," though as Canadians they are presently in Afghanistan: another mess!
I went a bit as OP Thread Title = "Saddam Guilty: Death By Hanging."