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There are several possibilities here, especially with regards to WMD. The problem is, none of them bode well for us:
1. Bush did lie to us in order to go to war. He knew Iraq didn't have WMD, but he made up stories to convince the public. Now, as much as I don't like Bush, I think this is pretty far-fetched. But if this is true, I think it is obvious how dangerous this is to our democracy.
2. Our intelligence about Iraq was pretty far off. Intelligence thought there were WMD in Iraq, strong enough to merit an immediate attack, but they were wrong. I think this is pretty likely. If it is true, then we have serious intelligence deficiencies that need to be addressed, and I don't see that happening right now.
3. Iraq had WMD, but they are now gone to Syria or some other country. This is also possible. If this is true, then the war in Iraq has done the exact opposite of what we wanted: instead of getting control of these weapons, they have now been scattered to the wind like dust. Harder to keep track of and easier for terrorists to get, if they don't already. No good.
When Bush said that the threat posed by Iraqs weapons were real and immediate, I imagined a few hundred medium-ranged missiles with chemical or biological warheads that he was hiding. Nothing remotely near this has been found, nor does it seem likely at this point. Only time will tell why this is.
As for torture, give me a break. China tortures people as well, and they have Most Favored Nation trade status. We indirectly support Colombian paramilitary groups through the War on Drugs that do not behave in the best of ways. Heck, we have taken terrorism suspects to other countries presumably so information could be tortured out of them in ways that are illegal in the U.S. Yes, ending torture is great and our government should never support it one bit, but the U.S. can be hypocritical on this subject.
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