[vyper]

I thought the point of war was to win. Sanctions being just one method.

[Sandwich]

Originally posted by mikhael
It had been weakened to the point where it couldn't possibly be a threat to anyone.

Although in this case it certainly seems to be true, those sounds suspiciously like a classic "Famous Last Words" example, y'know?

[mikhael]

That's a prudent, and justified, skepticism. Skepticism is a good thing, especially since it is two-edged. We can be skeptical about how ineffective Iraq's military might have been at the same time as we are skeptical about whether or not Hussein was hiding banned weapons. Skepticism is merely a call for proof, not a denunciation of it.

[Nico]

Originally posted by Sandwich
Perhaps wisely, even, depending on if those reports of the French govt. sharing info with Iraq are true or not.

As much as I like you, I'll suggest you to go to hell. I can't believe you out of all people can consider a completly dumb rumour like that possible.
I'm really disapointed, this time. I don't even feel like arguing over the fact you consider we could be the enemy of the USA ( coz that's what it would imply ), I'm too disgusted.

[Sandwich]

Originally posted by Nico

Originally posted by Sandwich
Perhaps wisely, even, depending on if those reports of the French govt. sharing info with Iraq are true or not.

As much as I like you, I'll suggest you to go to hell. I can't believe you out of all people can consider a completly dumb rumour like that possible.
I'm really disapointed, this time. I don't even feel like arguing over the fact you consider we could be the enemy of the USA ( coz that's what it would imply ), I'm too disgusted. [/B]

Dude, you misunderstood, apparently - or I did. I seem to recall when issues concerning the French position on the attack on Iraq came up a few months back that you made a point that the views of the French government were not necessarily the views of the French public. Since then, I've tried not to refer to "France" or "the French", but to "the French government".

But to cut to the heart of the matter, yes, I do believe it's possible that the French government (and you could put in here Russian, German, etc - doesn't make a difference) could have been sharing intelligence information with the Iraqi government. Why should that be so unbelieveable? Governments have said one thing while working at cross-purposes for centuries.

But does that mean that I would consider the French goveernment an enemy of the US? Hardly, although - if those reports (which has the same root as the word "reportedly", remember) are true - they certainly weren't helping matters any.

[Grey Wolf]

The primary problem with the Bush administration's handle on the whole concept of terrorism, and the nation in general, is that they choose superficial actions in the most part, and their more complex attempts they attempt to pull focus away from after they turn sour. Not to mention the exceptional favoritism that they show big business in general and Haliburton specifically, their attempts to prevent any enviromental reform....

[Bobboau]

in a world were some people beleve Bush staged the 9-11 atacks in a bid for global domination, why is the thought that some European government(s) could be trying to play both sides around the middle so insane.

I was wondering, how do the french feel about there government? do you generaly trust your leaders, or do you hold them suspect (not anything to do with Iraq, just something I was wondering with all the consperesy theorys and 'Bush is a lier' stuff)

[icespeed]

war, on the whole, is a stupid idea. but sometimes people declare it to be necessary. that might have been so. what's past is past; we can't go back and say, 'yeah, but if this had happened'... cos we don't know, we can't ever know. all the past is ever really good for is supporting argument for what to do next, because you can't change the past. only the future.

even so: i think the iraqi war was necessary if not wanted; i think there's two sides to every argument and neither of them are correct; i think there's about the mindset of various people, governments and politicians from the culture of their countries that no one really takes into account when dealing with them; i think some one's going to be stupid enough to start a nuke war simply to prevent the other guy winning; and i think our leaders are leaders for a reason, so we should probably put a little trust into them if not much.