gime "will just invite him [SH] to repeat his past successes, by using minimal concessions to cause maximal division and confusion" (24). After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the administration of President George Bush arrived at the conclusion that the combination of "terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and rogue or failed states" imperiled American national security (Lieber 15). In particular, Lieber said "it is better to confront a Saddam Hussein before rather than after he acquires nuclear weapons" (15). Terming Iraq, Iran and North Korea as comprising an 'axis of evil,' in his 2002 State of the Union address, Bush declared that the United States either through the UN or, if necessary, alone and with 'a coalition of the willing' would disarm Iraq of WMD. This led the U.S. to adopt a policy of pre-emptive attack once it became clear that due to the opposition of France, Germany, Russia and China a majority on the Council would not support the use of forceful means against Iraq, the "serious consequences" contemplated once Iraq went into material breach of 1441.
4. Powell has linked Iraq, which has since the 1970s harbored, financed and supported various terrorist groups, with Al-Qaeda.
Specifically, Powell pointed to the presence in Iraq of Al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab Zarqawi and the radical Islamist group Al-Ansar along Iraq's northeastern border with Iraq.
5. Disarmament cannot be obtained except through regime change, the effects of which are likely to be beneficial for the prospects of improved government in Iraq and peace in the region.
Saddam Hussein's regime has for more than 20 years brutally suppressed political dissent and impoverished ordinary Iraqis despite Iraq's oil wealth. Regime change would permit Iraq's resources to be used to further the economic and social welfare of its people, rather than to finance the acquisition of WMD.
Harvard professor Karsh acknowledges that "the protra...