Bumz, locked != deleted. While I wasn't thrilled with it being locked like that, it was left for people to see (and perhaps to serve as a warning for the "Wrath Of Steve" to not post on this topic).
Miso, I'm sorry that you are a "casualty of war" (although less-so than the people currently in Iraq), as wars are expensive, and that money has to come from somewhere. Its unfortunate though that vital services, including education, take the hit. As far as your preference for classes or majors, its not completely uncommon (at least in the US) to have a class or section cancelled due to a lack of support from the students. Happened to me this semester, and to counter that...tuition is being raised. Yippie!
As far as Saddam goes, the US HAS acted on him over his time in power. As I said, we even SUPPORTED him by giving him billions in funds, military training, and even biological and chemical weapons. The reasons were that our interests happened to be the same at that time, and now that they differ, he becomes an enemy of the US (not stating my opinion here, just US policy). Personally, when he invaded Kuwait in the early 90's, we had more than enough reason to take him out then. The elder Bush (scary to think that there's more than one of them who have lead us to war in that country) didn't follow through with it, and so they ended up using 9-11 and "war on terrorism" as an excuse to finish up the job. Perhaps if the UN didn't pass resolutions that they weren't going to enforce, this could've been avoided. Apparently Bush and Chirac haven't heard of moderation...
As far as Iraq's fate after the war, that is completely unkown, and dependant on a variety of factors. In the past, we likely would've set up another puppet government, only to have to take it down by force a few decades later (sorta like we're doing right now). This time? Due to the fact that it will take a LOT to rebuild the country (both physically and otherwise), as welll as the fact that Bush & co. will want to use all of Iraq's oil to do so (as well as make sure their pockets are nice and warm), I can see us being in Iraq for quite a while. As I had somewhat said before, the real casualties here will likely be the Iraqui people, because even if they are thrilled to be "liberated" (assuming they survive the war and aren't killed by either side), they still face many hardships in the near future.
As far as the US being the "angels to the world" (as you sarcasticly put it), I don't believe its so clear cut. The US DOES do a LOT to help out countries across the globe, providing food and funds to help them get back on their feet, often removing any debts they owe in the process. Much of this is unnoticed by people, overshadowed by what the US does WRONG, through actions such as this (there's an article from a Candian paper showcasing this that has been floating around the net since 2001, I'll try and find a link later). In the PR world, a war such as this can easily remove the good that we've done in 50 countries, especially in the eyes of the people in the Middle East. Also note that the decisions the US makes and the opinions of the people aren't exactly the same. This is a VERY unpopular war, not just in the middle east, but here as well. Don't equate all Americans with El Presidente.
And as far as the war being illegal, I'm going to be quite interested in seeing what the UN does about the US here. I'd find it quite amusing if they can't seem to agree that they need to enforce resolutions that they've already passed on Saddam, but that they can all (sans the US, UK, etc.) agree that the US has commited war crimes by invading Iraq. Keep your eyes on this one.
![]()