# Can the Iraq situation be explained to me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-iraq-situation-be-explained-to-me/150425 "2003-01-23T13:26:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-iraq-situation-be-explained-to-me/150425/41 "2003-01-24T15:53:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by regnad kcin \* > \*\*I just wanted to make it clear that 9/11 is not directly the reason for this invasion. 9/11 may have facilitated or expedited it, but it was in the works before 9/11. \*\* I agree, though it should be noted that Rumsfeld (who was Saddam’s buddy in 1983) had been planning it since 1997. [UK Independent](http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=370328) (yeah yeah it’s Fisk, but read the facts). ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-iraq-situation-be-explained-to-me/150425/42 "2003-01-24T16:30:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zebra \* > \*\*Its not like Saddam has to prove a negative. He doesn’t have to show he has nothing. He has to show the process of dismantling. Yes we know he has them as he used them on the Kurds. We also have various spy outlets that inform us that he is rebuilding. (spy plane/sat photos, defectors, ect) > > \*\* It is true that Hussein is not exactly asked to prove a negative. However, the demand has been made and complied with that a written presentation be made of whatever disarmament action he has taken. Such a written report is available for detailed and exhaustive analysis and criticism Our administration, on the other hand, at least for public consumption, sends representatives to talk shows and holds news conferences for oral presentation with a limited time for questions. If I read the opposition from European leaders correctly, there isn’t a lot more done in the way of formal presentations to them or the UN. It is easy for someone making only a short, verbal response to a written report to say, " That’s not good enough" since the verbal statement offers little opportunity to analyze it for its competence. Paul Wolfowitz appeared on _The News Hour With Jim Lehrer_ on 23 January and was asked why our claims aren’t backed up with a more intelligence data. His answer was, that to do so could jeopardize lives. Well, lives are also jeopardized by going to war and the _possibility_ of the death of an intelligence source should be balanced against the _certainty_ of deaths among our armed forces in the event of a war. Failure to do all that we can to get the support of other countries and their people could easily lead to attacks on our forces in the support areas that will be need for a war in Iraq. The recent killing in Kuwait shows me that this isn’t just a speculative concern. We are being asked to go to war, quite probably against the expressed wishes of a considerable part of the rest of the world. I really think we deserve more than assurances from Paul Wolfowitz that he has the requisite information and has interpreted it properly. On the same show Dennis Hastert asserted that Iraq is training\* Al Qaeda\* forces in the north right now. When asked by the interviewer if, as Majority Leader, he had received briefings that proved to him that what he said was a fact he answered with the typical politicians’ sidle. He said the he received intelligence briefings all the time and that in his mind, in his intution he was certain that was the case. As far as I’m concerned if he had received the briefings asked about the answer should have been; “Yes, I have received such briefings.” The Iraq affair was originated by GW for reasons that I’m not sure are those he has expressed. After a considerable delay from the time he started the agitation GW went before the UN and demanded action by that body and action was, and is being, taken. We are now presumeably enforcing UN resolutions regarding Hussein’s military force. GW and Rumsfeld constantly demean the UN action with regard to that enforcement, and insist the US reserves the right to take unilateral action in “self-defense.” However, I don’t think they have shown that the need for such so-called self-defense action is urgent. They haven’t made the case to me and many others for the immediacy of danger that would require the unilateral action that they propose. They haven’t convinced me and many others that working out the disarmament of Iraq over a period of time, working through the UN at each step, would lead to immediate and mortal danger to our national security. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-iraq-situation-be-explained-to-me/150425/43 "2003-01-24T18:19:17Z")
It’s hard to avoid having this sort of thing turn into a debate. I think the question has been answered about as well as it can be in this forum, so I’ll close this thread before it gets out of hand. Those who wish to continue a debate are invited to visit the GD forum. bibliophage moderator GQ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-iraq-situation-be-explained-to-me/150425.md?page=2)