10 Years After the Iraq War

The Huffington Post has an interesting poll.  It features a "Change My Mind" debate presenting opposing points of view on "Was the Iraq War Worth It?".  Pratik Chougule confirms it was and Hussein Ibish disagrees. The Post takes a pre-debate poll and a post debate poll.  The poll concluded that while 6% of the readers agreed with Pratik Chougule before they read his article, 2%  more readers agreed with him after reading the two articles  (I participated an hour ago).  He has changed the most minds with his rhetoric:

Numerous investigations after the war assessed that Saddam -- the only world leader who openly applauded the 9/11attacks--had extensive ties to terrorist groups, and was preparing to reconstitute his WMD programs.

And Hussein Ibish is wasting his sweetness in the desert air when he rejects Chougule's claim:

Weapons of mass destruction, of course, were most frequently cited, but it was clear at the time that there was every reason to doubt the administration's claims. And, we quickly discovered, these claims were as false as many of us were convinced they must have been. Given the way that intelligence information was processed and presented to the public, there is every reason for the American people to feel that they were deliberately misled by some key elements of the Bush administration regarding Iraqi WMDs.

There were numerous, and patently ridiculous, attempts, including by Vice-President Dick Cheney, to link Iraq to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Others argued that even though Iraq was obviously not involved in the attacks, the United States needed to make a show of strength in the region in response and this was a perfect opportunity to do that. Some endorsed the war as a human rights measure, and as a debt owed to both Kurds and Shiites from previous American engagements with Iraq. Others suggested it was necessary to secure American dominance in the oil-rich Persian Gulf region. Some even argued that overthrowing Saddam would be the key to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

As Judge Judy would say, "Reee-diculous"!! Ask Ezra Klein who supported the war then.

All the old faces-- Rumsfeld, Cheney, Bush--showed up again on television last night making themselves look even more foolish (although, I cannot quite put the poll out of my mind).  Here is Rachel Maddow on her show last night (Tuesday, March 19):

These are the faces that have changed our future, and made Iran the most powerful country in the middle-east.