While I'm pleased to see so many of us supporting our troops (as even Daschle has reluctantly decided to do), I'm troubled by the sense that this is somehow a wrong or unjust war - especially due to the fact that the UN did not sanction it. Our security and our future should not in any way depend on the UN or any other country. Would you want the safety and security of your family dependent on the wishes and the votes of your neighbors? Your colleagues? I would hope not.
  To aid in what appears to be a discussion, I've included a number of articles discussing the war. I should note that the "bottom" set come primarily from sources generally not known for being a)conservative, b)hawkish and/or c)supportive of our President. Read (or not) and comment (or not) as you might wish.
http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29921

http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30710

http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=31448

http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=31500

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/013/41.72.html

(NY Times: The French Connection - William Safire) New 
(See Men Shredded, Then Say You Don't Back War -liberal British MP Ann Clwyd) New 
(Space Imaging: Photos Prove Connection Between Iraq & Al-Qaeda Terrorists) New 
(PBS: Transcript of Frontline's Interview with Iraqi defector Captain Khodada) New 
(New York Times: "Why We Know Iraq is Lying" -Condoleezza Rice) New 

"There was a machine designed for shredding plastic. Men were dropped into it and we were again made to watch. Sometimes they went in head first and died quickly. Sometimes they went in feet first and died screaming. It was horrible." 
-Iraqi torture witness' sworn statement to INDICT 

(BBCNews: Iraq's tortured children) 
(PBS.org: Highly secret terrorist training camp at Salman Pak) 
(NY Times: Defectors Cite Iraqi Training For Terrorism - 11.12.01) 
(UK Guardian: The Iraqi connection - 11.11.01) 
(The New York Sun: September 11 and Iraq) 

“In 1991 Saddam killed 500,000 people when they rose against him. Nobody demonstrated against him then. But now the United States wants to get rid of the dictator, people are demonstrating against it.” 
-one of the Iraqi liberation soldiers the U.S. is training at "Camp Freedom" in Hungary 

(UK Telegraph: Saddam 'killed missile chief' to thwart UN team) 
(The Los Angeles Times: Protesters With Bloody Hands -Max Boot) 
(Reuters: Blix - Iraq Banned Weapons Unaccounted For) 
(Human Rights Watch: Iraq's Crime of Genocide: the Anfal Campaign Against the Kurds) 
(Amnesty International: Iraq: Systematic Torture of Political Prisoners) 
(New York Times: How Many People Has Hussein Killed?) 
(NY Times: War for Peace? It Worked in My Country -Nobel Laureate José Ramos-Horta) 
(Colin Powell's Special Section - "Iraq: Failing To Disarm" -audio, video, text) 

"This is more than a preemptive strike. It is clearly a defensive action. We are defending ourselves and others against this madman." 
-Rush Hudson Limbaugh III 

(New Zealand Herald: "Evidence of an Iraqi Official Acting as a 'Professional Rapist'") 
(CAABU: Pro-war letter to Tony Blair from Iraqi Exiles in UK) 
(ABCNews: Is Odai Hussein More Brutal Than His Father?) 
(WSJ: Eight European Leaders Stand With Bush) 
(UK Guardian: Ten More European Nations Back US on Iraq) 
(Washington Post: Now, It's Business That Booms in Afghanistan) 

"The Iraqi regime and its weapons of mass destruction represent a clear threat to world security. This danger has been explicitly recognized by the U.N." 
-Letter by Eight European leaders in support of the United States

 

 

(Center for Non-Proliferation Studies: WMDs in Iraq) 
(Washington Post: UNSCOM Tracks Terror Weapons) 
(Washington Post: The Unconventional Arsenal) 
(Palestine Chronicle: U.S. to Have Access to 21 Countries in Iraq War) 
(Washington Times: Iraqi Scientist Says Materials for Nuclear Bombs in Hand) 
(UK Times: 14 Years of Torture and Humiliation in Saddam's Jail) 

"At the end of all of the academic arguments is whether we are willing to pay the price to bring freedom to the people of Iraq. If we are, we will not regret it." 
-Vietnam veteran and former Democratic Senator Bob Kerrey 

(MSNBC: Banging the War Drums Slowly -Christopher Hitchens) 
(CNN: Experts: Iraq has Tons of Chemical Weapons) 
(Finish the War. Liberate Iraq -former Democrat Senator Bob Kerrey) 
(UK Telegraph: UN Inspectors Uncover Proof of Saddam's Nuclear Bomb Plans) 
(Reuters: Iraq Scientist Says Saddam Hiding Arms Underground) 
(UK Times: Exiles Prepare for a Happy Return at Camp Freedom)


 

 

"The last thing we want to see is a smoking gun. A gun smokes after it's been fired…. If someone waits for a smoking gun, it's certain we will have waited too long." 
-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld 

(ThisIsLondon: New Saddam Torture Dossier Unveiled) 
(GlobalSecurity.org: Tuwaitha Nuclear Center) 
(New York Post: Iraq Nuke Sites Up & Atom Again) 
(Scripps Howard News Service: Protestors Deny Peace a Chance) 
(GlobalSecurity.org: H-3 Airfield) 

"We are praying you will stick to your resolve to liberate our country from a dictatorial tyranny over 30 years which has caused the deaths of nearly 2 million men and women, sons and daughters." -Letter to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair from Iraqi Exiles 

(U.S. State Dept: Iraq Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs) 
(U.S. Senate: Testimony on emerging Threats & Capabilities) 
(U.K. Ministry of Defence: Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction) 
(Foreign Affairs: The Greatest Threat -Richard Butler) 
(Washington Times: Iraq Seeks Steel for Nukes) 
(Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor: Iraq: A Population Silenced) 
(UK Times: Liberal MP Backs War After Meeting Saddam Torture Victims)


 

 

"Of course they have no credibility. If they had any, they certainly lost it in 1991. I don't see that they have acquired any credibility." 
-Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector Hans Blix, on the Saddam regime 

(UK Telegraph: Saddam Killed Abu Nidal Over Al-Qaeda Row) 
(UK Guardian: The Iraqi Connection to Al-Qaeda) 
(Jane's: Abu Nidal Murder Trail Leads Directly to Iraqi Regime) 
(Brain-Terminal.com: MOS at the New York City Peace Protests) 
(MidEast Review of Int'l Affairs: Iraq's WMDs & the '97 Gulf Crisis) 

"If Saddam Hussein fails to comply and we fail to act or we take some ambiguous third route, which gives him yet more opportunities to develop his program of weapons of mass destruction and continue to press for the release of sanctions and ignore the commitments he's made? Well, he will conclude that the international community's lost its will. He will then conclude that he can go right on doing more to build an arsenal of devastating destruction. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow. The stakes could not be higher. Some way, someday, I guarantee you he'll use the arsenal." 
-President Bill Clinton in 1998 

(Amir Taheri: Anti-War or Anti-US?) 
(Reuters: Report: Saddam Authorized Use of Bio-Chemical Weapons if Attacked) 
(The Scotsman: France & Russia Make Money Out of Immoral Peace) 
(StratFor.com: The Chirac-Hussein Connection) 
(Associated Press: Non-Aligned Summit Backs Iraq Disarmament) 
(New Republic: Dispatch - Food Fight)


 

 

"If this were 'all about oil,' we could just declare victory in Kuwait or Saudi Arabia and go home. Who's going to stop us? Our troops are already there!" 
-Rush Hudson Limbaugh III 

(Daily Telegraph: The Iraqi People Want to Know When Bush Will Get Tough) 
(New Republic: Will Saddam's Troops Fight?) 
(Center for Strategic and International Studies: WMDs in Iraq) 
(Washington Post: Germany's Mr. Tough Guy -Michael Kelly) 
(Washington Post: French Oil Firm Sees Future in Iraq) 

“I am surprised to hear of all the anti-war demonstrations in the West. I wish that the demonstrators could spend just 24 hours in the place I have come from and see the reality of Iraq. Fourteen lost years of my life. Nothing but bread for food — darkness, filth, beatings, torture, killings, bitterness and humiliation.” 
-Rafat Abdulmajeed Muhammad, jailed for selling a roll of film to an British journalist 

(White House.gov: A Decade of Deception and Defiance) 
(Osama bin Laden's Letter to America -11.24.02) 
(Detroit News: Anti-war Protests Anger U.S. Troops Inside Kuwait) 
(BBC News: Exiles' "Liberate Iraq" Plea) 
(BBC News: Iraq Exiles Back Blair's Stance) 
(NRO: Why Won’t Anti-war Types Listen to Iraqis? - Amir Taheri)


 

 

"Iraq under Saddam’s regime has become a land of hopelessness, sadness, and fear. A country where people are ethnically cleansed; prisoners are tortured in more than 300 prisons in Iraq. Rape is systematic . . . congenital malformation, birth defects, infertility, cancer, and various disorders are the results of Saddam’s gassing of his own people. . . the killing and torturing of husbands in front of their wives and children . . . Iraq under Saddam has become a hell and a museum of crimes." 
–Iraqi Safia Al Souhail, Advocacy Director of the International Alliance for Justice