tagej:
I sympathize with your point, but it seems like the U.S. options are pretty limited. If Saddam is forcibly removed from power, there do not seem to be any likely replacements who would be any better than he is.
If we installed our own puppet, hand chosen ruler, we violate principles of democracy that we supposedly hold dear. Plus, we virtually guarantee a coup and put ourselves right back where we are now.
If the U.S. acts without consent of the Arab world, we alienate them and make a virtually impossible mideast politik even more tangled. By acting without Arab consent, we also empower the more radical extremists.
If we do nothing, Saddam develops significant military might and then we have a real mess on our hands.
If we outlast the tyrant, support indegenous anti-Saddam movements, and maintain something akin to stability in the region of Iraq, perhaps the process of history will eventually bring up an indigenous Iraqi leader who is actually rational.
It sucks that such a course means that innocent civilians will continue to suffer, and to some extent at our hands. That's why I hate international politics. I guess that is why isolationism is appealing to some people.