Avnery: Phony reasons for war
"Saddam Hussein is a cruel dictator, but the idea that he might be connected with Osama bin Laden is ridiculous. Sadam heads the Iraqi section of al-Baath, a very secular party. Bin Laden is an Islamic Fundamentalist, and al-Kaida aims at the destruction of all secular regimes in our region. The official who invented this particular lie is either an ignoramus or a cynic who believes that one can fool all the people at least some of the time.

"As for weapons of mass destruction: the USA supported Saddam when he used deadly poison gas against the Iranians (and their Kurdish allies in Iraq). At the time, America was interested in stopping the Iranians. Today there are chemical and biological weapons in most of the countries of this region, including Egypt, Syria and Israel, and one of them has nuclear arms. As for democracy: Americans don't give a damn. Some of their best friends in the Islamic world are dictators, some more, some less cruel then Saddam."

Avnery: Phony reasons for war
"Saddam Hussein is a cruel dictator, but the idea that he might be connected with Osama bin Laden is ridiculous. Sadam heads the Iraqi section of al-Baath, a very secular party. Bin Laden is an Islamic Fundamentalist, and al-Kaida aims at the destruction of all secular regimes in our region. The official who invented this particular lie is either an ignoramus or a cynic who believes that one can fool all the people at least some of the time.

"As for weapons of mass destruction: the USA supported Saddam when he used deadly poison gas against the Iranians (and their Kurdish allies in Iraq). At the time, America was interested in stopping the Iranians. Today there are chemical and biological weapons in most of the countries of this region, including Egypt, Syria and Israel, and one of them has nuclear arms. As for democracy: Americans don't give a damn. Some of their best friends in the Islamic world are dictators, some more, some less cruel then Saddam."