[Askan Nightbringer]

*puts on his flame proof suit*

Getting rid of the Saddam is probabaly a noble cause. Unfortunately the American government has really stuffed up diplomatically with what looks like crude attempt to bludgeon its way through what are fair questions with bizzare rhetoric and half truths.

With the amount of propaganda flying around at the moment its really hard to guess at what the truth is, and I assume in ten years time I'll get the answer.

But for the convenience of everyone here I'll just give a few points at some of the stuff that is really annoying me.

- Yes Saddam gassed some Kurds. Everyone knows it coz Rumsfield was in the country at the time. I think he said .... "" (nothing). In fact the whole world found it so revolting that the British had to go sell Saddam some new guidance missile systems and lathes for making artillery shells. But where could Saddam put all these new British toys coz all his warehouses were full with Russian missiles, French nuclear technology, US Anthrax cultures, German chemicals and 12 pairs of old size 7 Australian army boots?
In fact everybody cared so much about the Kurds that we let Saddams Republican Guard crush their rebellion post gulf war and we let Turkish jets into the no fly zone to bomb Kurdish camps (when the Turkish are bored with bombing Kurds in their own country I suppose).

- Yes Saddam runs a repressive regime. I remember all those public outcries when he was busy killing off communists in his government and getting rid of Islamic extremists.

- Yes Saddam invaded Kuwait. We knew he was going to because he told the US ambassador at the time. I beleive her words were something like "its not US policy to get involved arab - arab conflict". I believe after the gulf war she said something to the effect of "well we didn't think he was going to take the whole country"

- Yes Saddam kicked the weapon inspectors out of his country. Well that's not quite true because Richard Butler (the idiot Australian who was given to the UN coz he stuffed up Australia's chance of getting elected to the security council) withdrew the inspectors on the advice of the US because the US and Britian were about to embark on a big bomb dropping spree. Other members of the Security Council complained that they were not advised of the descision to withdraw and they wanted him sacked. Saddam let other inspectors back in after the bombing but for some reason didn't want to co-operate as much and the whole thing fell apart.

- Yes Saddam is aggresive. But please don't compare him to Hitler, a guy who was in charge of a large industrialised nation that was probabaly the strongest military power at the time. Iraq can never achieve the dominance over its neighbours that Germany did in World War II. There's only a handful of countries who can do that now, and they all have vetoes on the Security Council.

So in short Saddam is a complete Frankestein. The powerful players of the world made him and the powerful players of the world are going to unmake him.

There is only one party of innocents in this whole thing and thats the Iraqi people. They will be the ones losing arms, legs, food, water, parents and children. Send thousands of blue helmets to stablise the country and let these people live!

Askan