I completely agree! Also, Iraq didn't have terrorists (besides Saddam) because Saddam kept a tight rein on that country and didn't like factions. Now that country is a breeding ground for every terror group in the world.

more and more reasons are visible every day why a reasonable person must vote Democrat this election.

To quote Ahood al-Fadhal who is part of a group from Iraq touring the United States to tell Americans about the democratic transformation, albeit slow, in their country:

You (Americans) see (television images of) a lot of violence" in Iraq, and there is violence, she said. "But a lot of good things are happening to us. ... Under Saddam, we had no rights, especially women. Women could not speak openly, even to their children, not even in their own homes."

"When I come here and watch TV, I think this is the end of Iraq. It's over," al-Suwaij [executive director of the American Islamic Congress] said. In Iraq, however, she sees a country "taking baby steps" toward democracy. She says the economy is booming. Schools are improving. Women fill 25 percent of elected positions, a milestone not seen even in the United States.

"Yes, security is a problem and sometimes there is no electricity and no water," al-Suwaij said, "but at the end of the day when we put our head on the pillow, Saddam is gone and that alone brings us great satisfaction. That allows us hope."

"A lot of (Iraqi) mothers come to me and say to tell the mothers in America thank you for sending us your sons and daughters, the soldiers, to help us," she said. "We pray for them, the soldiers."

Another one:

Beheading would not be on our minds. We would consider it the retrograde practice it is, not something that can happen to people we know now.

Evilwhiteguy, I am curious who is sponsoring al-Fadhal's trip to promote the occupation of her own country. The U.S. government? Right Wing fanatics who have found their 'good Muslims,' i.e. people who will do their bidding? As I said on another thread, there are always accommodationists -- oppressed people who side with the oppressors in return for rewards. The telling thing about them is that their views are not the concensus. Al-Fadhal does not represent the people of Iraq. She will doubtlessly enjoy spending the tainted money she will get for selling them out, though.

Maybe not beheading, but the constant anti-aircraft attacks our pilots encountered policing the no-fly zones in Iraq (which the UN mandated that Saddam allow without interference, which he blatently ignored for years) would have been on our minds. Well, at least on the minds of those who kept up with such things.

And MD, you, without providing any evidence, of course (why break tradition) claim that Al-Fadhal does not represent the people of Iraq. She says she does. Have you lived in Iraq? I thought not. I will take her words over yours any day. And the article does not specify who sponsored the trip, but I would guess the American Islamic Congress, since the executive director is accompanying her.

And your "Right Wing fanatics who have found their 'good Muslims'" line is quite sad. Sounds anti-semitic to me, very racist overtones. If she were black, would you call her a CON-servative?

No question Saddam was evil. But he was no imminent threat to the United States--that's where Bush went incredibly wrong.

Not according to Russian intellegence.