The Iraq War was necessary

To deny Saddam Hussein was not "part of the war on terror" would be to deny his past terrorist actions. Hussein was a well-known terrorist who used WMD and poison gas against his own people, killing hundreds of thousands of Kurds in the 1980's and burying them in mass graves. He routinely tortured his own citizens with electric shock and castration. He raped women and killed them in front of their families. Hussein long harbored one of the terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993. He had already attempted to assasinate a sitting U.S. president (Bush, 41) in 1993 and many intelligence agencies around the world believed he actively pursued enriched uranium (yellowcake) for his WMD program. While it is true there were no actual facilities found producing chemical or biological agents on a large scale, there were many smaller scale clandestine laboratories operating under the Iraqi Intelligence Services which were engaged in small scale production of chemical nerve agents, sulfur mustard, nitrogen mustard, ricin, aflatoxin, and other unspecified agents. Moreover, these laboratories were analyzing whether various poisons would alter the texture, smell and appearance of foodstuffs. Did these findings not constitute an imminent threat? Should we have waited for these chemical and biological weapons to be smuggled into the country and used against our domestic population to murder millions of citizens before we considered these weapons an "imminent threat?" The report also noted Iraqi Intelligence Service M-16--Saddam's Directorate of Criminology which conducted "special substances" research and development--"had a plan to produce and weaponize nitrogen mustard in perfume sprayers and medicine bottles which they would ship to the United States and Europe. The ISG was told "ricin was being developed into stable liquid to deliver as an aerosol" in various munitions. "Such development was not just for assassination," wrote Richard Spertzel, head of the biological weapons section of UNSCOM from 1994 to 1999 and a member for the ISG. "If Iraq was successful in developing an aerosolizable ricin, it made a significant step forward. The development had to be for a terrorist delivery. Even on a small scale this must be considered as a WMD." Documentation from the Duelfer Report indicated Iraq was training non-Iraqis at Salman Park--training Palestinians, Yemenis, Saudis, Lebanese, Egyptians and Sudanese in terrorist techniques, including assassination and homicide bombings. Since our invasion, there has not been ONE attack on U.S. soil. As a result of this war: -Afghanistan had its first free election in history -First time in their history, Iraq and Afghanistan have a chance to control their own destiny -Iraq now has government that controls its own military, passes its own laws, and exercises all the power provided by their constitution. -50 million people have been liberated from Saddam's rule -Saddam Hussein is out of power and dead -Uday and Qusay Hussein, his two terrorist sons who ran the rape rooms and torture chambers, have been killed -American, British and coalition troops have captured 85% of al Qaeda leaders -In 2003, Muammar Qaddafi of Libya gave up weapons of mass destruction in response to force used in Iraq -Democratically held elections and the seeds of democracy have been planted in Afghanistan and Iraq Since Saddam was removed, the country has seen free elections; restoration of sovereignty; formation of a new government; ratification of a constitution; introduction of a sound currency; revival of oil production; newly established stock market; surge of new businesses; training of new police and military; rebuilding of roads; opening of schools; new fire stations; an improved computer network; and the increased availability of clean water. Per capita income has doubled since 2003. There are now more than 100 independent newspapers and TV stations in the country.