Let's take a look at each of these reasons for going to war.
(1) Saddam is an evil man who used poison gas on his own people, has killed political rivals, and violates the human rights of his people, especially the Kurds.
The Iraqi people deserve to be liberated from him. Well, certainly Saddam is an evil man. He used poison gas against Iraqis collaborating with Iran in their decade-long war. And after he did it, the U.S. continued to support him, giving him intelligence information and military equipment. A principle emissary from the Reagan Administration to Saddam at that time was Donald Rumsfeld. And yes, he has killed political rivals -- some of them for the CIA, who used Saddam to get rid of the previous ruler of Iraq (who wanted Kuwait returned to Iraq). And yes, Saddam has been guilty of human rights violations -- although not nearly to the extent of US allies like Turkey and Saudi Arabia. As a matter of fact, until 1990 Saddam was hailed by the United States as the most enlightened leader in the Middle East. Official US documents used to educate diplomats and military generals praised Saddam for how he had raised the educational and health care standards of his people, as well as their standard of living. Would the Iraqis be better off under someone else? Possibly, although they might very well be much worse off. If the Bush Administration is so concerned about the welfare of the Iraqi people, it could end the sanctions. It could rebuild the water supplies and electrical power systems his father's administration destroyed. With or without Saddam, those things would help a lot. But does anyone really think the Bush administration cares about the welfare of the Iraqi people? Of course not! If they were concerned about the plight of poor Arabs, they would be calling for regime change in Saudi Arabia.
