# Bush/Iraq poll **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 12, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891 "2003-07-12T03:12:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/41 "2003-07-12T17:09:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SimonX \* > \*\*I’ve not seen any reason to doubt that Hussein having banned WoMD was very likely possibility. > > I have NOT seen any reason to believe that Hussein was a credible threat to the US. LOTS of reasons to believe that he was a hypothetical threat though. \*\* I do agree that Bush had better come up with something soon, or else he’ll start loosing credibility with his supporters. Although having said that, I feel that, even if it turns out that there weren’t any weapons of mass distruction, I still think we did a good thing. I mean, I for one could not, for example, go to Iraq, look the children who were being held prisoner in they eyes [http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,6119,2-10-1460\_1344832,00.html](http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,6119,2-10-1460_1344832,00.html) > [@](#): > > \*\*Abound 150 children spilled out of the jail after the gates were opened as a US military Humvee vehicle approached > > “The children had been imprisoned because they had not joined the youth branch of the Ba’ath party,” he alleged. “Some of these kids had been in there for five years.”\*\* and tell them that we made a mistake, and that they should still be in prison. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/42 "2003-07-12T17:18:32Z")
C’mon guys, let’s not totally hijack Joel’s thread, huh? Sorry if I’m out of line, mods. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/43 "2003-07-12T17:25:21Z")
Seems pretty obvious that the answer is #3 ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/44 "2003-07-12T17:30:47Z")
Don’t worry, hijacks happen in threads all the time. And anyway, I have no problem with people who voted for #3 explaining why they think that bush lied. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/45 "2003-07-12T17:43:54Z")
2.75 We would have to be either psychic or have a signed confession to be convinced of 3. My instinct coupled with circumstantial evidence tends toward 3. But clearly Fearless Misleader indulged his prejudices by lending credence to one set of unverifiable claims, while dismissing another. If he did not know, he certainly had every opportunity to know. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/46 "2003-07-12T17:54:00Z")
So you’re leaning towards #3, but stopping short since you don’t have any evidence to support it? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/47 "2003-07-12T17:55:25Z")
3.1415921… -Extra points awarded for irrationality. ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/48 "2003-07-12T17:58:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Squink \* > \*\*3.1415921… > -Extra points awarded for irrationality. \*\* 😕 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/49 "2003-07-12T18:00:27Z")
When come back bring 3.14159. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/50 "2003-07-12T18:05:18Z")
the post from Gr8Kat was actually from me. I was using AOL directly to post, but that last one I brought up Netscape Navigator, and her name was cookied in that one. So I had to log out and re-log in as me. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/51 "2003-07-12T18:07:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*When come back bring 3.14159. \*\* 😃 I get it, I get it. ---
**Author:** ![zoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71c47a/32.png) [@zoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/52 "2003-07-12T19:06:32Z")
3 A caller on c-span this morning had mentioned “Occam’s razor” saying that whichever answer makes the most sense is probably the correct answer. ---
**Author:** ![Tejota](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Tejota](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tejota)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/53 "2003-07-12T19:37:10Z")
2.6666 Bush was mistaken because he is incapable of incorporating facts that threaten his worldview. He had access to truth, or at last a closer approximation of truth, but he rejected it in favor of his faith in the ‘evilness’ of Saddam. Then he presented that faith to us as if it were facts. It’s common for people to use the word lie only for statements known by the speaker to be false. But what do you call statements that the speaker _would have known were false_ if they were capable of rational though? I think that lie fits better than mistaken, but neither word is truely accurate. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/54 "2003-07-12T21:47:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joel \* > \*\*I’m waiting to find out what 1.25 means first. \*\* That I think #1 the most likely explanation, but that I think there is a possibility that #2 is true. Actually think the #4 option is very plausible, also. Prior to the war there was little debate among anyone that SH had said WMD’s; the only question was how many, what kind, and how developed they were. And yet I doubt we will see any “Chirac lied!” threads. Moreover, the UN and everyone else also was entirely convinced that he had such weapons and programs during the 1990s; there was documented evidence of such. As [Hitchens](http://slate.msn.com/id/2085263/) points out, to believe that Saddam had no weapons or programs is to believe that he stonewalled the U.N. inspectors in 1998 in order to further his dream of unilaterally disarming Iraq. Possible, I suppose, but unlikely. > [@](#): > > A caller on c-span this morning had mentioned “Occam’s razor”. If I mention it too, will it make me right? ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/55 "2003-07-12T21:47:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zoo \* > \*\*3 > > A caller on c-span this morning had mentioned “Occam’s razor” > saying that whichever answer makes the most sense is probably > the correct answer. \*\* I thought Occam’s razor was just supposed to be a guide to help you decide which theory to test first?😕 ---
**Author:** ![pantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/56 "2003-07-13T00:08:52Z")
Three. And now they’re lying about the lie: the cover-up has begun. More than likely he’s learned enough from Clinton/Nixon to make the cover-up good enough to keep him out of trouble. The lessons that should be learned can’t be repeated enough: 1 - Commander-in-chief was never meant to allow the Prez sole discretion over the use of the military. As long as he de facto has this, we are in danger of a repeat of this dangerous bufoonery. 2 - The power to legally declare war resides with the Congress, and only if that power is explicitly used should a war like Iraq be fought. 3 - The military needs to be reduced/reconfigured for defense only, (you know, so the next time a fighter jet might actually be on time to shoot down an enemy plane when a surprise attack occurs) and troops stationed abroad need to be brought home as circumstances permit. ---
**Author:** ![zoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71c47a/32.png) [@zoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/57 "2003-07-13T00:13:35Z")
Occams razor is not intended to provide proof, it is a useful tool for sorting out this kind of multi-layered argument. Take the most logical answer, (Bush and his buddies can make a load of cash by invading Iraq and taking control of the oil) check all of the evidence to the contrary, (I don’t see a whole lot) draw conclusion. It is not scientific, but is does bolster my already slanted view. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/58 "2003-07-13T13:42:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zoo \* > \*\*It is not scientific, but is does bolster my already slanted view. \*\* I think you’re confusing “slanted” with “facile.” ---
**Author:** ![zoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71c47a/32.png) [@zoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891/59 "2003-07-13T17:51:36Z")
Whatever floats your boat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-iraq-poll/187891.md?page=2)