US military build-up in the Middle East began in Mar 2002, a FULL YEAR BEFORE THE INVASION. Troops deployed to Iraq, bombing raids in the No-Fly zone increased markedly (and probably illegally), and aircraft carriers arrived in the Gulf in July 2002. Given the post 9/11 rhetoric, once troops began to deploy in noticeable numbers, this country was going to war. No ifs, no buts, no maybes.
Therefore, from early 2002, the Administration's task was to prepare the ground for the Iraq invasion both politically and diplomatically. The Administration succeeded spectacularly with its domestic propoganda effort whilst failing miserably to secure international support, which sadly points to the gullibility of the US population.
Bush is once again trying his propoganda tricks. We must not let him succeed! We must never forget that his Administration made the fateful decision to go to war (not Congress, not the CIA, and not you and me) and then did what was necessary to gain support. Manipulating Intelligence was only a small part of their activitities. I would argue that the awful corruption of the free press was the greater crime.
We must stress that Bush was the man who decided to shed blood. Bush was the man who decided to gamble with the stability of the Middle East. Bush is the man whose leadership has called into question the ethical and moral foundations of this country (even torture - the shame). Bush is the man who claims Presidency of this nation, yet represents the interests of only a small fraction of its people. And Bush is directly responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, the rape of our treasury, and the hate and contempt that a large part of the world now feels for the US.
If this is such a just, noble, honorable and above all else, necessary war, why haven't the sons and daughters of those who led us into it joined up?