Originally posted by bishop375:
If 12 of your peers, colleagues, friends, and coworkers came to you with the EXACT same information on something, would you not believe it, and with good reason? Would you not believe what you are told to be true, thus try to bring others' attention to it?


No, I would not just believe what I was told, even if many others said it to me. I would THINK FOR MYSELF. I would look at the information with an open mind. I would examine the evidence on which they based their conclusions. I would use my own reasoning power to draw my own conclusions.

BTW, if I were in a position of authority (say, Commander in Chief of U.S. forces and leader of the free world), I would see thinking for myself as a solemn duty. I would feel that I was abrogating my responsibilites as a leader and decision maker if I just accepted the conclusions of others and did not draw my own reasoned conclusions based on all available evidence. If the evidence was too thin or shoddy to base a firm conclusion on, I would forego making the decision until I had sufficient information. And I would be embarrassed to tell the world that I based my decision to go to war on sketchy stories about yellowcake uranium, aluminum tubes, and so forth.

Originally posted by bishop375:
We would not be in the position we are in, nor would Iraq, had Hussein come forward with whatever information he had on where his WMD gear went. Hussein is the one to thank for us being in the position we're in, NOT Bush.



Saddam had multiple opportunities to avoid the war. He was an idiot, apparently, in addition to all of his other bad qualities. But please realize that Saddams failure to avail himself of opportunites to avoid war does not in any way change the morality (or legality) of Bush's decision to go to war. Saddam had an opportunity to avoid the bullet, but Bush pulled the trigger.