Screaming Penguin

This story might surprise some, but I think the Iraqi regime does need to change and that a military removal of Saddam probably is going to be necessary. However, I still agree with other nations around the Earth that the inspection process needs to run its course. I dont think unilateral action by the United States is either a good idea, or justified. This may seem contradictory but its not. Mr. Hussein is a terrible guy, he runs a terrible regime, they need to be ousted to free the Iraqi people and remove that element of danger from that part of the world, agreed, but we need to prove that case and THEN oust. Today Colin Powell presented the "proof" that the Iraqis have weapons of mass destruction. He displayed picture of guys in trucks at suspected weapons sites before inspections and some audio recordings that state "forbidden ammo". Neither of these are proof of WMD. These prove things like the Iraqis have trucks, and the Iraqis were at the inspections sites with trucks days before the inspections, and the Iraqis can speak, etc. These PROVE that the inspection process is not quite working, these prove that Iraq somehow had prior knowledge of inspection sites, but they do not PROVE WMD. Yes these items are suspicious, but they are not the proof the US government has been unequivically claiming for 6 months (Condolezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld have both made public statements quite regularly that the US has "proof" of banned weapons). This is not really as complicated as we all try to make it. The UN mandate states exactly what is banned. Find something that is banned and game over, UN approves military action to oust the current regime. Dont find anything that is banned and then improve the inspection process to FIND SOMETHING. All the hawks in the states say they already have "material breach", no they dont really, they have some suspicious activity and unwillingness but they dont have the proverbial "somking gun" and thats what we need. With all of the power of the mighty United States and the mighty UN, why cant we just find one of the banned weapons, find ONE of the 7 mobile chemical/biological weapons facilities? I want this war to happen to tell the truth, I want Saddam the hell out, and frankly not just out but DEAD, but at the same time it must be justified, we cannot start a war because of suspicions, guys in trucks on sattelite photos and unbridled military hubris. So despite the "revelations" of today that are nothing of the sort, the inspections and the search need to go on. But please, if the US has all this information then give it to the UN and help the inspectors find something. For more on the latest see the linked CNN story.   Powell gives key Iraq presentation: CNN