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Wait a sec, have the goal posts moved again? It was about weapons of mass destruction, then it was about bringing democracy to masses yearning for it, then it was about protecting the Sunnis from the Shiite forces that we kind of, um, unleashed on them, and now it's payback for the Kurds?

The real reason for the war was possession of the oil. After Britain and the US collaborated in staging a coup to overthrow the previous dictator Mohammad Mossadegh*, who had explained himself as attempting to do what was best for his people by nationalizing their oil and Britain would stand to lose a good deal they had going.

After Britain's and the US' cooperation, which led to burning down the man's house, terrorizing his family, executing his adviser, forcing him into a mock trial where he was to admit his guilt to his people, dividing the country politically with bribes and threats then arming them, etc., many were furious. Apparently it wasn't enough when they pulled a few more strings to have Saddam replace him, so they rolled in with tanks to sweep the place up and cut out the middle man. I doubt any intelligence truly believed Saddam had been "gassing his own people by the thousands". If anything, he probably sent out an army now and then to fight opposing factions with the WW1 and 2 weapons supplied to him by the US.

* Read about it here: http://www.mohammadmossadegh.com/biography/

Don't find it odd!

Iran isn't a legitimate state. They have no right to exist, own property, have a military, etc. Because they are a bigoted evil theocracy. Who are you to say who is or isn't a legitimate state? Iran has been around FAR LONGER than many other countries have, including the U.S. and most of Europe. Keep that in mind.

Iran has repeatedly said it will commit genocide. Please provide a reference. They have NEVER stated that they are going to commit genocide. And please don't quote Ahmadinejad's speech as proof. It has already been debunked.

If you visit Iran, you will hear daily chants "maag baag Israel" calling for the destruction of those people. First of all, that is "Maarg baar Israel." Second of all, it is not a daily event. As disgusting as that is, it is not something that happens on a daily basis or even regularly. I've been there. There is no excuse for when this happens, but don't slant the truth. Also, I notice you never mentioned the crowds of Iranians whom held candle-lit vigils for the U.S. after 9/11.

Funny how you only mention the ugly.

And it's not because of palestine (though it wouldn't be ok if it were), it's because of racism. I know this personally. That also places them in a certain category. What? RACISM? You do realize that Iran actually has the second largest Jewish population in the Middle East after Israel, right? Again, how do you know of this racism personally?

Also, you're probably wrong about the university stat. Saddam killed a huge number of the men in Iran (Saddam killed more muslims than any other person in the history of the world), and that affected the numbers somewhat, but statistics out of Iran are always lies. Even if they say what the Iranians want them to, they will lie about it. So yeah, they report that 70% of students are women. It's not true though. Hell if anyone knows the real figures. So just because you don't know of the true stats and figures, and you're too lazy to devote any time to research, it MUST be untrue. You have so far provided no logical evidence to back up your claims.

If your state is not a legitimate democracy, it has no right to exist. We can't destroy every such nation for obvious reasons, but we can fuck with them however we feel we need to. Why? Why not? Again, who the fuck are you to say what country has a right to exist or not? You are not god. You do not decide who has and has no right to exist. You froth at the mouth and accuse Iran of wanting to commit genocide, but you have no problem telling Iran that they have no right to exist. How would you react if someone says that Israel has no right to exist?

You throw the word "democracy" around as if you know what it really means. I hate the Iranian government because of what they've done to my people for the last 30 years, but every once in a while, someone posts a completely fucked-up post completely void of facts. Open your eyes and travel the world and PLEASE don't base your judgment of others on a select, extreme group.

Folks like you and me know it was reported like that, but for the love of God, please take a stroll over to read a summary with the original text translations of what was exactly said, who translated what, in what words, and who reported what, in what words.

Even President Bush's former Chief Weapons Inspector at the UN, ex-US Marine, Scott Ritter, who totally accepted the press reports initially, changed his mind after reading that summary.