IMO

This posting has an extremely political slant, so if that's going to bother you, don't read it. In fact, I wonder if I should even be writing it, since it will be soooo easy for people to misinterpret what I say... Today the Bush administration has officially stopped its search for the alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) supposedly stockpiled by Saddam and hanging over our heads ("our" == The USA's) like the sword of Damocles. More than anything else, the possible existence of these WMD was the factor that allowed the invasion of Iraq to obtain as much support as it did. Of course, the fact that none were found comes as no surprise to anyone; it was becoming increasingly clear that they did not exist. Even the administration itself was declaring that even if no WMD were found, the invasion was still justified. In the comic book world this is known as a "ret-con", or retroactive continuity. Here's an example: it's well known that Superman is from the planet Krypton. One writer decides that this whole Krypton thing is stupid and writes a story where Superman is really a genetically altered human being; the whole Krypton thing was implanted memories or a dream or something like that. Basically, history is rewritten and continuity has been retroactively changed. The about-face regarding the WMD is real-life ret-con. Of course, the administration claims that the world is safer without Saddam. Well, not if you're a US solder in Iraq it ain't. In fact, I think it's a much more dangerous world for them then it was a few years ago. Now don't get me wrong, imo Saddam was a supremely Bad Guy and I am not sad in the least that he is no longer in power. No way. But there are lots of other Bad Guys out there, and I don't think it's a wise decision for any country to unilaterally decide who should and who should not be in power in other sovereign states. I also think that in addition to the major advantages of having Saddam no longer in power, and the people of Iraq finally having an opportunity for Life and Liberty, there is also the disadvantage that the current disorder provides additional breeding grounds for terrorist activities. If a large percentage of Americans feel that the administration was less than honest, what does that say about the rest of the world, especially those who didn't trust us in the first place? Is the world better without Saddam in power? You betcha! Is it safer? Umm, I'll have to get back to you about that one... I wholeheartedly support our troups. I have friends and family serving over there. No matter how I or anyone else feel about this war, the men and women over there, doing their jobs even at the cost of their own lives have my respect, admiration and appreciation. So the search is over, and in some way the very fact that a search actually happened is good news, since it implies that maybe the administration really did think that there were WMD. No, that doesn't make everything OK, but sometimes you'll take what you can get.