I'll probably get attacked for this, but here goes anyway...

I wish that (some) Americans would get their heads out of the sand and realize what is really happening.

I just finished watching a TV program here (I'm Canadian) that addressed the very question you asked. The Canadian journalist interviewed several ex intelligence personnel from your state department. Every one of them stated that the Bush government manipulated intelligence information (and outright lied to the American public) to justify their invasion of Iraq. Bush and his cronies accused Iraq of having "weapons of mass destruction" which of course were never found and US intelligence knew that they didn't exist.

Bush accused Saddam of killing his own people (the Kurds) through the use of poison gas and other weapons. What Bush left out, was that it was the US who supplied these very weapons to Iraq, so that they could attack Iran. The US governement knew for several years that Saddam was using them to kill his own people, but the US ignored this and continued to provide resources to Iraq. Bush Sr. and his government considered Saddam to be an allay.

Bush Jr. again distored the truth by blaming 911 on Iraq. Iraq had nothing to do with 911 and this has been confirmed by US intelligence.

It is a war that cannot be won, and everytime Bush goes on TV to claim that the US is winning the war, he is once again lying.

We can only hope that Americans come to their senses in the next election, and do not elect another Republican.

On this issue we agree, Sharon!

i agree too. i was against it before it started (oh gawd do i sound like obama/hillary arguing?). i think the cost of this war has put our economy in the toilet, not to mention the death, injury and heartbreak.

on the bright side (insert sarcasm), this war does seem to have attracted many of the terrorists to iraq to wreak their madness rather than attacking here.

okay, i have my umbrella up, start pelting away all you who disagree........

In recognition of the 5 years of war, the BBC commissioned a series of programmes entitled "10 days to War".

This mini-drama series is based on true stories and in each of the episodes world-famous actors (such as Juliet Stevenson and Kenneth Brannagh) play the parts of the key figures in the UK debates. I was transfixed.

Immediately after each episode was aired, the real people involved were interviewed. As I don't watch much TV these days, I recommend these mini-dramas for your consideration.

Each one is about 10 minutes long.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/10_days_to_war/default.stm

It occurs to me that this might not be available to anyone outside the UK for copyright reasons, but if it does get aired in your country, please set aside time for it.

If you are serious about this issue, you will really need to allocate some time to do it and I recommend you follow the episodes in chronogical order.

The above link also has a section on the right hand side where you can access the interviews and debates which followed each episode.

thanks, britscot. a beautiful thing about the internet is that if you search hard enough, you can find almost any episode of anything that ever aired. how do you think i get my 'doctor who' fixes?

Rose,

Thanks for the topic and I hope it evokes a "kinder gentler" discussion... I completely agree with Sharon and Britscot.

I've never understood how the each year polls are conducted on the topic of trustworthiness. Clergy are always near the top and lawyers, politicians, and used car salesman are always at the bottom. (I apologize to lawyers and used car salesman) Yet, during the prelude to war people blindly believe "everything" that politician’s say even if it is contrary to the facts...

I've never understood whether this is part fear and part nationalism or what drives this fervent behavior.

I've had very intelligent people try to explain the connections between Iraq and Al Qaeda. When I reply with the military assessment states that there is no credible connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda, they change the topic...

The people that believe war is the "first" and "best" option in every case...this war was worth it... I believe war is the "last" option and in this case it was not worth it.

Britscot Thanks for the links!

greg--

so far, no one has swooped in and attacked.....

yet.......