Originally posted by SLY
I bet you can get even more cruel pix from North Korea or hot places in central African nations.

But since these countries don't have much oil or other solid economical bases (i.e. it won't be a great benefit economicaly and/or politicaly to invade them , or not worth the money that would be spent on them) , they don't get much attention from the U.S. .

Excuse me , I'll have use your quote : "Out of sight, out of mind" !

It's not even close to being out of my mind. It quite honestly bothers me quite a bit, however:
-Iraq has has been under obligation to disarm and prove that it's disarmed with the penalty of invasion and regime change since the end of the Gulf War. No other nation in the world is under such obligations.
-I'm sure we can both agree that Saddam and his government has been lieing about their weapons programs, and I would contend that they're lieing to hide the fact that they're not in compliance with the UN demands, and have no intention of ever being in compliance with the UN.
-Not following through in Iraq sends a message to all those other nations that there is no international will to follow through with the demands the international community makes. Worse yet, it gives them a blueprint to follow: Hold out until the very last second, make a minor, meaningless consession so the dovish elements in the UN say "hey, look, that's progress! Let's give them more time!" and repeat as neccessary until the world gets bored with it and moves onto something else.
-If this is really about oil and boosting the US economy, why go through with the HUGE expense of war and then several years of occupation if the same exact goal (increasing Iraqi oil production to lower the price of oil) can be acheived peacefully? This war and the deficit spending and post-war recession that will acompany it (if it happens) will hurt the US economy for several decades. However, when you consider the financial (but more importantly, human) cost of waiting, it's pretty clear (to me anyway) what action has to be taken, and now.