Jim,

>The Iraq war certainly was not a question of 'damned if you do and damned if you don't'. The U.S. would not have been damned if it did not invade Iraq. And who knows, but the Iraqi people just might have been free and secure today!

When was the last time a despotic dictator ever stepped down because he suddenly had a realization that they were doing the wrong things to the people under their rule?

>The 'damned if you do and damned if you don't' phrase has its roots, in my opinion, in always facing *some* opposition even when the right (as in correct) choice is made. There is no way that invading Iraq was based, even for a nono-second, on "doing the right thing".

I believe that Saddam was a threat to more than just the people of his country.