Originally posted by SLY

Originally posted by Raskolnikov
How do you expect to [u]force[/u] Saddam to do anything? You can't.

He has been already forced to accept UN inspectors , open presidential palaces & sites , make reports full of info about military programs , allowing UN ispectors to meet Iraqi scientists ...

But ONLY after the threat of war from a leader he KNOWS will pull the trigger, and ONLY to gain time, if only to strengthen his defenses. The more prepared he is for an invasion, the better the chance he has of holding onto power. This is very basic tactics here. And though he's allowed inspectors to talk with Iraqi scientists, he's never once allowed them to talk to the inspectors WITHOUT four or five "minders" who listen to the entire discussion. This is in the report. You do realize that the Iraqi government is notorious for threatening not only individuals but their families to ensure their cooperation, right? Why do you think the scientists who have escaped to the West are so adament that removing Saddam Hussein from power is so important? Read the report, read the Iraqi ambassador's response which denied that their are holes in the report or that Iraq has failed to comply in any way (::cough BS! cough::), then read Colin Powell's response. See who's statments hold the most water in comparison with those of Hans Blix.

To make one last (probably futile) stab at explaining the oil market, and why insiting that oil is the driving reason for this war is so pointless...

The price of oil is based on an open [u]world[/u] market. More oil on the total market = cheaper oil, les oil = more expensive oil. You can learn that by listening to the BBC or NPR news.

Now, in the individual case of Iraq's oil, the US only consumes it. France, Germany, and Russia export most of it to the world (making them a lot of money), the Iraqi people get a little food out of it, Saddam Hussein gets a looser border with which to smuggle arms, Joe World Citizen pays more for oil because Iraq is only producing about 25% of its potential output, and finally Mr. US Oilman makes more money because the price of oil is higher. In the event of a war with Iraq, the United States has no right to claim the wells under international law. This means they go to the Iraqi people. In this instance, Joe World Citizen gets cheaper oil (but probably not much since Iraq is likely to join OPEC), Mr. US Oil Man looses money because the price of oil has gone down, Iraq gets big financial gains (since UN sanctions are gone and it's now exporting it's own oil), Saddam Hussein gets to be an exile or face War Crimes charges (that he's very much earned), and France, Germay, and Russia are out of the oil money they were making at the expense of the Iraqi people.

I can make a much stronger case that portions of the opposition to war in Iraq (namely France, Germany, and Russia) are more influenced by oil than the US.

As to Nuclear vrs. chemical and biological weapons (particuarly biological weapons), and the differences between the two:
Biological weapons are potentially just as destructive and far more difficult to control. In the case of a nuclear detonation, a limited area is (very) effected by the blast, then fallout follows the prevaling winds until it works its way out of the atmousphere. Air bursting nuclear weapons (such as those in the US arsenal produce less fallout than groundbursting weapons (because they don't kick up as much radioactive dust). Given the ammount of background radiation in the air today (absolutely in thanks to US, French, and Russian nuclear weapons testing during the 40's, 50's, and 60's and those nice holes in the ozone), we'd really hardly notice the difference. Biological weapons on the other hand have incubation periods where those infected are contagious but don't show symptoms. This means that there can close to a week between an attack and the initial indications of it and close to a week before any attempt to control the infection can be initiated. Because of mass transit, air travel, a Small Pox attack can be spread all over the world and absolutely randomly and cost MANY more lives than a single nuclear attack in MUCH more random a pattern.

Are you beginning to understand my position yet?