WMD's & Iraq

As many know, the War in Iraq, or as I sometimes call the Second Gulf War, was initiated on the assertion that Saddam Husseine, President/Dictator of Iraq was in possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Evidence produced to prove this was proved to be false and a cheap fabrication, such as the Roman documents, which claimed Iraq purchased 'yellow cake uranium' from Niger. In addition there was speculation and claims the Iraqis were involved with Al-Qaeda and the September 11, 2001 plane high jackings which resulted in the deaths of thousands, although none of the hijacks were Iraqi, if anything the biggest portion of them were Saudis. Subsequently, the United Nation had inspectors sent to Iraq to investigate as to whether or not he was in possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction. However, Husseine kicked out the inspectors and October 16, 2002 the United States Congress voted to "authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq" (H.J.RES.114).
The authorization for action had the approval (aye) of 215 Republican member of the House of Representatives, and 81 Democrats. The 'nay' votes were 6 Republicans, 126 Democrats and 1 Independant. Whereas 2 Republicans, and 1 Democrat did not vote at all in the House. Yielding a sum of 296 ayes, 133 nays, and 3 'pff uh dunnoes'. In the Senate it was approved by 77 ayes, 48 of which were Republicans: including current Presidential candidate Arizona Senator John S. McCain III). And 29 Democrats: including former Presidential Candidate, and Masschusetts Senator John F. Kerry (an excommunicated Catholic); New York Senator & former Presidential Hillary Rodham Clinton (aka Hellary Dennis Rodman Clinton); and California Senator Diane Feinstein. Of course, all this action for war was pushed by Republican President George W. Bush.
This occured nearly 6 years ago, and the United States is still at war with Iraq, though the violence has declined. As of July 2008, 4,119 Americans died in Iraq, and War related deaths for Iraqis has ranged from 50,000-1,000,000+. The wars popularity grealty diminished when much of the intelligence reports proved to be false, forgeries, and when WMDs were not found. Religious persecution of Christians, and small religious minorities has increased, not to mention ethnic minorities like the Kurds. One of the most infamous murders was that of the martyr, the late Chaldean Rite Archbishop, His Excellency Monsignor ܦܘܠܘܣ ܦ̮ܪܔ ܪܚܘ (Paulos Faraj Rahho), Archbishop of the Eparchy of Mosul (peace unto him) (3). He was murdered by Islamic extremists, who killed along with him, his body guard and drive. Under the rule of Saddam Husseine Christians had more protection, and the the people were united in their fear of Saddam Husseine.
Despite all these evils occuring, there were a few positives. Iraqi President Saddam Husseine was finally captured and executed for his crimes against the Iraqi people. Well I guess that's all I can come up with now...
Now in regards to Weapons of Mass Destruction. Some assert that WMDs have been found such as the 500 chemical weapons found since the start of the war, however they were said to be only for provisional use, and for road side bombs, as it was in an imperfect state, this being reported by FOX News (4). It also should be noted it was at first asserted that Saddam Husseine was in possesion of nuclear weapons, not chemical. MSNBC reports that 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" were transported out of Iraq, which were the remnant of Saddam Husseine's nuclear program (5).
CBS news interviewed the FBI interrogator of Saddam Husseine, George Piro, who said: " [Saddam] told me that most of the WMD had been destroyed by the U.N. inspectors in the '90s. And those that hadn't been destroyed by the inspectors were unilaterally destroyed by Iraq." And states that Saddam Husseine feared Iran and wanted to keep hidden that he had no WMDs so as to avoid an Iranian invasion saying "It was very important for him to project that because that was what kept him, in his mind, in power. That capability kept the Iranians away. It kept them from reinvading Iraq,"(6).
To be continued....

(3)-Catholic News: Pope calls death of Iraqi archbishop 'act of inhuman violence' http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0801421.htm
(4)-FOX News: Report: Hundreds of WMDs Found in Iraq http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200499,00.html
(5)-MSNBC News: Last major stockpile from Saddam's nuclear efforts arrives in Canada http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25546334/
(6)-CBS News: Interrogator Shares Saddam's Confessions http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/24/60minutes/main3749494_page4.shtml