Wow. It's awe-inspiring to trace the Gordian knots some of you people are tieing with your arguments denouncing the invasion of Iraq.
The estimates of the numbers of Iraqis slaughtered by Hussein's regime range from a "low" of 300,000 to as high as one million. A massacre committed on that scale would quench the courage of anyone contemplating resistance. Sorry Schultz, I don't believe they "deserved" what they got.
On another note, all Iraqis were NOT armed to the teeth. The Baathists had a considerable edge over their Sunni neighbors, who made up the bulk of those that perished in this Middle Eastern "holocaust." Their leaders controlled the military and all sources for weapons and munitions. The weapons which the Sunnis possessed were purchased illicitly. The majority of the damage done to Iraq's infrastructure was committed by Saddam's forces in the southern part of the country as they withdrew before the American onslaught. The destruction of water and power lines and stations affected the Sunni populations almost exclusively.
I don't really give a rat's arse whether or not the Allied forces find any weapons of mass destruction or not. The invasion of Iraq is justified on humanitarian grounds alone. Period.
To paraphrase another poster, I wish you would stand on the streets of Basrah and repeat some of your statements condemning the invasion and the lack of courage of Saddam's enemies.
Shuckins