To you, personally, was it worth over half a trillion dollars and 100,000 dead, to depose Saddam Hussein?

Question

Did you even think about him once a week before 9/11?
Did anyone really consider him a danger to the USA?
Are we "better off without Saddam Hussein in power" ?
He is alive and well with a public rostrum to speak from?
Is this what you really want? Personally?
No talking points, please, personal opinions and reasons.

Answer 1

Many Liberals did

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons
of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." - President
Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear.We want to
seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program." -
President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998

Iraq is a long way from here, but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the
risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons
against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face." - Madeline Albright, Feb
18, 1998

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983." -
Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18,1998

"We urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution
and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on
suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its
weapons of mass destruction programs." - Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens.
Carl Levin (D-MI), Tom Daschle (D-SD), John Kerry ( D - MA), and others Oct. 9,1998

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction
technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the
weapons inspection process." - Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998

"Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and
palaces for his cronies." - Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999

"There is no doubt that ... Saddam Hussein has invigorated his weapons programs.
Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may
be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery
systems and is doubtless using the cover of an illicit missile program to develop
longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies." - Letter to
President Bus h, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others, December 5, 2001

"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and threat to the
peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandated of the United Nations.
"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing
weapons of mass destruction." - Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that
Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he
has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare
capabilities. Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter
and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." - Al Gore,
Sept. 23, 2002

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing
weapons of mass destruction." - Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that
Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he
has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare
capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..." - Sen.
Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002

"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop
nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years ... We
also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in
development of weapons of mass destruction."- Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10,
2002

"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant
UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological
weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do" - Rep. Henry Waxman (D,
CA), Oct. 10, 2002

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein
has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery
capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to
terrorists, including al Qaeda members. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked,
Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical
warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons." - Sen. Hillary Clinton (D,
NY), Oct 10, 2002

"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein
has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and
storage of weapons of mass destruction." - Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002

"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force-if
necessary-to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons
of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security." - Sen. John F.
Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9,2002

"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous
dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat
because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating
America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass
destruction... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real"
- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003

Answer 2

Personally, I didn't spend a half a trillion dollars.
Yes, it was woth it, despite the cost. If people haden't given their lives in WW2, you would be speaking German right now.
Yes, I did think about Hussein prior to 9/11. I served during the first Gulf War, and also remember the months and months of Hussein screwing with the UN weapons inspectors. Did you forget all of that?
The Iraqi's are better off without him power and Iraq's neighbors are better off and a lot safer, even though some of them hate our guts, some of them love us.
Hussein is getting a tase of justice in the western sense of the word. If he is too stupid to spend his time and energy defending himself, and he would rather squander his opportunities by blabbering all over the judges, that is his choice. He has that freedom. Something that he never gave anybody who ever spoke out against him.

Answer 3

Nice loaded question. I think Saddam Hussein would have eventually gained the ability to do great harm to the United States. I'm not saying it would have happend tomorrow, next year, or 5 years from now. I'm just saying that it almost surely would have happend. If he had the ability to do great harm to the United States, I hardly think he would hesitate to use it. Are we better off without Hussein in power? If you think that it is a good thing having a tyranical dictator guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and a disturbing force in the world's most volitile region out of power, then yes we are better off.

Saddam Hussein was thumbing his nose at the rest of the world and exposing the UN for futile group that it really is. He got what was coming to him.

Answer 4

Although I think your numbers are a bit inflated I don't think he was worth the life of any human being. Or any money. We now know that the whole story about WMD was a lie. I think that we as Americans could have spent that money on building better levies and helping uninsured people pay for their medical care and drugs. Here we have our own war going on with drugs and gangs and lack of health care but it's sooo much easier to focus all our energy into an "evil enemy" abroad. Bush has done a good job at isolating us and making most of the world hate us for being pompus and arrogant and eager to stick our noses into other peoples business and claim to know who is good and what is evil, who should live and who should die.

Answer 5

Saddam Hussein never was a threat to us. We entered into that war based on a lot of lies by Bush and Cheney. Afghanistan was a legitimate place for our troops to be not Iraq. Personally, I think Bush went after Saddam because his father failed to go after him after the Persian Gulf war in the early 90's. "W" pursued Saddam because of some unfinished business with his father.

Answer 6

One could argue it may have been worth it if that was the real reason. The reason is for the US to emulate the Brits domination of the Middle East in the 19th century. The Brits were driven out and I am sorry to say we will be driven out even quicker because of the sophistication of those societies.

Answer 7

Economists in 3 studies have put the cost of the Iraq war at $2 trillion. check out the link below.

Answer 8

Only stupid or suicidal generals go to war without sufficient resources. Despite wasting billions of dollars, and despite woefully insufficient troop strength, and despite a real shortage of weapons, and despite the ultimate outcome of our leaving Iraq to the biggest thug with the biggest gun to take over, Bush rushed right in where wisdom forebade.

Answer 9

no i didnt even knew he existed until 9.11 but i do know that we owe it to the people who died in the twin towers attack to kill the man that killed them. and would you be safe knowing that the man who did such a thing to our country is on the other side of the world ruling a country and possibly thinking up more evil, deadly plans against the united states and other parts of the world? i think we did the entire world a favor and other countries should have joined forces with us so we could have been done and gotten out of there

Answer 10

HELL NO!! THE ""REAL"" REASON WE WENT AFTER HIM IS BECAUSE DADDY BUSH DIDN'T FINISH THE JOB; SO JR. PUT A POLITICAL SPIN ON EVERYTHING TO DO WITH SADDAM TIL ENOUGHT VOTES WERE THERE TO GO TO 'WAR' AND CHANEY COULD MAKE MORE MILLIONS (AS PROMISED WHEN HE AGREED TO BE V.P.)