Saddam was a bad bad man.

I was against going to Iraq, even before we went to Iraq. I recall going to a church and sitting with a group of people who prayed for a quick and safe return of the troops and things of that nature. All I could think to ask of God was forgiveness. Forgive the leaders for making war. Forgive the soldiers for the innocents they'll maim and kill in the execution of their duties. Forgive us for letting it happen.

Jeanette Rankin said, "You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake." War is a catastrophe. Starting one is like starting an earthquake because you think your house will survive better than your enemy's. Those cheap plates you're willing to have shaken off the shelves and smashed on the floor? Those are your soldiers. Nevermind the other folks in the neighborhood.

Leading up to the war, we heard (among other things) that Saddam had the dreaded WMDs, weapons of mass destruction. His nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons would destroy masses.

Today it's a different story. No WMDs! We're not even looking anymore! But, in our defense, he really wanted them. Here was an evil wretched man who couldn't do anything to us but thought about it a lot. So we bombed him, and his family, and his friends, and some people who were standing in the same country. They were shocked and awed.

One thing, though. The key findings of the Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the DCI on Iraq's WMD (aka "the Duelfer report") says said that Saddam wanted that junk for Iran. Are we there to protect Iran? Frankly, I think if we had the troops, we'd attack Iran next.

Anyway, the bad bad man really really wanted some bad bad stuff. People in Hell want ice water.

I've seen it said that, "every intelligence agency in the world believed that Iraq had WMDs". I don't think that means it wasn't a mistake. What it says to me is that "every intelligence agency in the world" needs to wipe the egg off their faces, give a sincere "my bad", and do a better job next time.

In October 2002, the CIA said that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons, but no nuclear weapons. They had recordings of Saddam making late night phone calls to 1-900-HOT-NUKE and breathing heavily into the phone, "oh yeah, baby, I want you so bad." Pretty much everyone agreed with them, although some wise-ass at the CIA noted that only one intelligence agency disagreed: Iraq's. You'd think they'd know best, but I guess you just can't trust some people.

Come to think of it, I don't trust President Bush much. I think this is a basic difference between people who support him and people who don't. Bush's supporters trust him. He says, "Iraq is a threat, and their streets are paved with Uranium," and some people believe it. He says, "the sky is blue, and you can't defeat a concept," and some people think it's a lie. I think you can't trust the guy, but that's just me.