What were the reasons for the Iraq war besides removing Saddam, freeing the people, democracy, etc.?

Speculation range from finished what his father started to Dick Chaney's oil stock in Halliburton . We were told that Saddam had WMDs, whether it was poor intelligence or a scapegoat I am not going to judge.

What it doesn't let me say Dick?! Its a name for crying out loud!!! Ok Richard Chaney.

Some people may say that bush is trying to finish his fathers work. But in actuallity he is getting revenge for attcks on U.S. soil. He aws willing to do anything to stop all the killing. It wont stop. In their country killing is negotiation.

well i feel their are a few common sense reasons beside the revenge factor and such.

It was unfinnished business. Saddam agreed to quite a few concessions after the 91 Gulf War: He didnt come across on half of them.

Our 10 year treaty for oil concessions has come to an end in Saudi Arabia; its time to find a more acessible oil market for the next 10 years for the folks back home.

Both sons were coming into their age for rule and possible rally of their folks to another war..time to get rid of them.

with the possible pull out of Turkey from its US treatys, another forward area needed to be found for that area. Remember, its a strategic commerce and travel choke point of the world.

With a possible shift in Saudi Politics, once again we were looking for a balance country in the locale...much like when we were in Iran with the shah to balance out the arab world on the other side of Israel.

My favorite belief...because it had to be done, and we could do it

Here's what I think:

we NEEDED to come here. Looking around at this place, it's a huge cesspool. The water isn't potable, the infastructure of the whole country is in dire condition (not due to our bombs, due to plain ol' NEGLECT), the people here live in fear, alot of kids don't even go to school, this is literally a third world country.

We needed to come here, overthrow Saddam, and help to Westenize this country in the hopes that by modernizing Iraq, it will have a spillover effect (due to it being centrally located in the Middle East), hopefully modernizing and stabilizing an inherently explosive region of the world.

Think of it like this: If we make "them" more like "us", then "they" will be less likely to want to blow "us" up. Make sense?

I believe the weapons of mass destruction, the toppling Saddam, the oil, the finishing the job we started, liberating the people, etc... I really, seriously do. But the bottom line is that we NEEDED to do this, it was our duty not just as Americans, but as human beings.

This is a war that goes beyond politics. It's about trying to make a sh*tty country into something that can sustain itself, and become more like the rest of the world. Think about this: THIS is the Last Crusade. I might as well paint a huge red cross on my chest. I'm a Knight Templar without armor in a savage land. Hey, I like how that sounds.

I take back the "without armor" part. I'm a TANKER, for Pete's Sake.

Dragon, you ARE aware of the trade sanctions against Iraq for the past couple decades? BTW, if being a cesspool is all it takes to get invaded and fixed up, when are you guys going to bomb all the crackhouses in my neighborhood, and fix the plumbing?

Don't preach about Trade Sanctions to ME. You have obviously never heard of the "Oil For Food" program. It's not MY fault that Saddam Hussein was using the profits for buying ADA from the French (Documented Fact) or building more Presidential Palaces. Seriously. it REALLY isn't my fault. We have one of the aforementioned "Presidential Palaces" on our camp. BELIEVE ME, I could sell some of the stuff in just the BATHROOM and live for a whole YEAR.

As for the crackhouse comment... Are you inviting us in? I think there's still like 10% of the Army that doesn't have a combat patch... Oh, wait a second, we CAN'T go in... the Democrats and the ACLU won't let us. Believe me, we WANT to fix the worlds problems...

Think about this: THIS is the Last Crusade. I might as well paint a huge red cross on my chest. I'm a Knight Templar without armor in a savage land. Hey, I like how that sounds.

Dang it, you had to say that? The crusaders were just as bad as the muslims they drove away...They killed and raped jews on their way to the holy land...they slaughters the inhabitants of Jerusalem when they conqured it...I wouldent compare my self to them....