Weapons of Mass Destruction As Sole Justification for the Iraq War

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Iraq's nuclear, biological and chemical weapons capabilities were certainly one of the main reasons the coalition forces invaded Iraq in March, 2003. And it is an embarrassment that those capabilities were less than most people had believed for the previous ten years.

However, there were a myriad of other reasons why war was justified, and these reasons were all presented to the American people in the 18 month long national debate before the invasion, including:

Iraq's repeated violations of Security Council resolutions, including Security Council Resolution 1441.
Anti-aircraft attacks against U.S. overflights, which occurred on a daily basis.
Violations of UN trade sanctions against Iraq.
Ongoing threats to Iraq's neighbors, including a resolution of the staging of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia.
Financing of terror, and aiding terrorists such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Abu Nidal.
Assassination attempts against foreign political leaders including President George H.W. Bush.
Establishing representative government in a vital and strategic Middle Eastern nation.

[edit] Justifications For War

[edit] State of the Union Speech

On January 28, 2003, President George W. Bush delivered a State of the Union address in which he laid out the following reasons for seeking regime change in Iraq:

Saddam Hussein 'systematically violated' the Agreement that ended the Gulf War.
Iraq possessed biological weapons, including Anthrax and botulinum toxin.
Iraq possessed chemical weapons, including Sarin, Mustard and VX and munitions to deliver them.
U2 surveillance flights as required by the UN were not granted clearance.

[edit] Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq

On October 16, 2002, President Bush signed the AUMF Iraq, or Iraq War Resolution authorizing force against Iraq. The Resolution gave the following reasons for regime change in Iraq:

Iraq's noncompliance with the conditions of the 1991 cease fire, including interference with weapons inspectors
Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, and programs to develop such weapons, posed a "threat to the national security of the United States and international peace and security in the Persian Gulf region"
Iraq's "brutal repression of its civilian population"
Iraq's "capability and willingness to use weapons of mass destruction against other nations and its own people"
Iraq's hostility towards the United States as demonstrated by the 1993 assassination attempt of former President George H. W. Bush, and firing on coalition aircraft enforcing the no-fly zones following the 1991 Gulf War
Members of al-Qaeda were "known to be in Iraq"
Iraq's "continu[ing] to aid and harbor other international terrorist organizations," including anti-United States terrorist organizations
Fear that Iraq would provide weapons of mass destruction to terrorists for use against the United States
The efforts by the Congress and the President to fight the 9/11 terrorists and those who aided or harbored them
The authorization by the Constitution and the Congress for the President to fight anti-United States terrorism
Citing the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, the resolution reiterated that it should be the policy of the United States to remove the Hussein regime and promote a democratic replacement.