I will first say that I am the one 'unsure' vote, so this may be a bit confused!
I think we all agree that Saddam is a terrible guy and it would be good if he, and the Baath party in general, were not in power. I think it is also fairly obvious that this would not happen in the near future without some kind of war, either forigne intervention or civil. Simply stating this, however, does not automatically justify the actions that have been taken.
For a start, things have already been more difficult then many expected and the death toll is rising and if many cities, especially Bagdad, require taking street by street then it will get vastly higher. There is also the significant risk of provoking the use of WMD against Israel or our forces, the later of which almost certainly killing many Iraqi civilians also, which Saddam would not have been stupid enough to do otherwise.
The danger of setting a precident for pre-emptive action without evidence of an imediate threat or UN backing is also dangerous and could encourage moves by India, Pakistan, North Korea, China and others which coalition nations will then have trouble credibly opposing.
I hope the net outcome of this war will be positive, and I think there is a fair chance of this happening. I am certainly praying that this is so.
But this war seems to have come about in far too hurried a fashion with too little thought to all the potential consequences and certainly far too bullish and blunt diplomacy.
