The reason given for the invasion of Iraq was WMDs and the
threat Iraq posed to us.

That was only *ONE* reason. Not the only one.

Dave

Out of every hundred times the Bush gang
listed a reason, WMD had to lead the pack at 90-something percent.

Remember the "Support Our Troops" rallies? Most of the folks with the brand
new, fresh out of the plastic shrink wrap American flags made in China and the
yellow ribbons (made in China) sincerely believed that our invasion of Iraq was
to
defend the United States from imminent attack by Saddam Hussein. 90-some
percent would have given you the WMD line last March. Easily. Now, of course,
the line is "we all knew better, all along. Don't you think the world is better
of without Saddam Hussein running Iraq?"
Good technique: cover a whalloping error with an indisputable, even if only
marginally related, collateral benefit.

Don't forget, in the days leading up to the invasion Bush was walking a very
skinny dimplomatic tight rope. He had to have an issue that showed Iraq in
violation of the
UN accords that ended GWI. They knew damn well there were no WMD- their
military people knew damn well that the
"shelf-life" had expired on the weapons SH once had.

The adminsitration even had a detailed accounting, demanded from and provided
by Iraq, that listed the WMD Iraq once had and what had become of them. It was
turned in about this time last year, it was something like sixteen thousand
pages in length ((there is a rumor it was submitted to a NG by somebody in
AUS)) and hours after receiving it Bush dismissed the entire document as "all
lies". After the fact, since there are no WMD to be found, any accounting that
says there are none is certainly every bit as credible as a claim that WMD
exist, and exist in quantities sufficient to threaten the security of the
United States.

However, WMD was an issue that could be used as a justification for the US
disregarding the terms of the UN accord and invading Iraq. Installing a
"democracy," generating a windfall for VP Cheney's business cronies, and
securing a base for future US military activities in the middle east wouldn't
have generated a lot of support from the rest of the world. Come to think of
it, WMD didn't pass the sniff test anywhere but the UK, Australia, and a few
tiny eastern Euro countries where until relatively recently the armies still
used muskets and deployed on horesback.