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This became the existential nightmare that led, in short order, to a progression of unsubstantiated assumptions: that Saddam Hussein had developed weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons;
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The ultimate irony is that Hussein, to keep his neighbors in check, allowed them and the rest of the world to believe that he might have weapons of mass destruction.
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I think Saddam did a little more than just "allow the rest of the world to believe that he might have weapons of mass destruction."
Either way, these two statements seem to contradict each other.
So lets say we took Ted's advice and stopped after the initial response. Then 6 months or a year or 2 years later. At this point we are all back to being fat and lazy Americans again... The unimaginable happens again. This time with or without a chemical, nuclear or biological weapon. What administration isn't going to get fried for that?
The first question everyone would have been asking is why wasn't more done to protect us. I like Ted and the piece is nicely written. He piece is devoid of political realities that administrations must deal with everyday.
And his points are being made with what are now "knowns" that were at the time HUGE unknowns. Was the action taken by Bush the correct one? The answer in hindsight is very different in hindsight.