Well, I think Don's been right about pretty much everything.

Please don't get the impression that I'm saying the whole thing is cut-n-dried, Rob. I realize that there are enough shades of gray to the question of Iraqi capabilities and intentions to make it very interesting--and that's "interesting" the way it's used in the ancient Chinese curse.

But I also think there were viable (and in retrospect, attractive) alternatives to war. I don't think the Bush admin was ever really sincere in it's dealings with the UN to seek a resolution that didn't involve invasion. There was still a lingering sense that "someone needed to pay" for 9/11. Afghanistan and the failure to find bin Laden hadn't fulfilled the need to extract vengence, and I think Sadaam, being high on our national poop-list, was conveniently easy to fit into our crosshairs. As Don says above, The Bush administration whipped up American public opinion to ... a fervor over what were essentially erroneous claims, and that made it easy for the nation to give the Bush admin license to pull the trigger.

In other words, the fact that we'd already warred with Sadaam coupled with the emotional impact of 9/11 made it possible for us to rationalize the invasion of Iraq, a nation which apparently had nothing to do with 9/11 and had no demonstrable intention of attacking American interests.

We should have thrown our muscle completely behind the UN.* We should have used our influence, in good faith, through the accepted channels of international relations to acheive our desired ends. We should have forged even stronger bonds with our worldwide partners in the aftermath of 9/11 instead of alienating nations that have also felt the painful sting of terrorism and would have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us.

The ouster of Sadaam did little beyond taking him from a footnote to a paragraph in the history books. The invasion itself will stand as a curiosity--a pointless, ineffective military adventure that did nothing to protect Americans and very possibly nothing to liberate Iraqis in the long-term. It's been a very expensive diversion from matters more important to this country: strengthening bonds with our international friends; working to establish mutually-acceptable relationships with those who are not traditionally our friends; tracking legitimate threats not just to Americans but to all peoples and dealing with them through cooperative means.

The invasion's most lasting impact--a vast new hatred for America--may be much more expensive, though.

*Yes, that would have meant working in concert with the rougue nations of France, Germany and Russia...maybe even Raoul's evil Belgium.