WichitaBoy–

You need to read the Senate Intelligence Committee Report. The National Intelligence Estimate given to Bush is absolutely littered with hair-raising statements about Saddam Hussein’s weaponry (see p. 198 for example) and ongoing efforts at constructing and/or acquiring weapons of mass destruction. You can blame the CIA for supplying poor information, but I submit any president in office after 9/11 couldn’t look at that stuff and not conclude we needed to take action. Remember: George Tenet said “slam dunk.”

I won’t bother linking the document. You really should Google it up and read it, though. When Bush said “I had to act,” I think he truly believed he had to. And looking at evidence after the fact does not change the circumstances beforehand.