Alexander Cockburn Slams Christopher Hitchens

@luceEnd , I agree !, and it is sometimes too painful to watch when Hitchens' is participating in the debate..
Fox News is a prime example , where they often get mauled..
but fun to watch ...
:)

What a powerful threat Iraq was. I'm still shaking with fear that they may bomb us with nukes.

Fucking morons.

but weren't the UN inspectors in the middle of a inspection when the invasion took place?

They were, but under Hans Blix they were being led a merry dance not least of all by Qu'say Hussein. Had Rolf Ekeus led the UNSCOM inspectors, as he had done in 1993, it is likely Saddam's (Franco-Russian?) stockpiles would have been found. Ekeus himself admitted that Iraq was offering $1m bribes to inspectors! Meanwhile in Syria, North Korea was selling missile technology to Iraq. They disappeared the moment the invasion happened, taking a $10m deposit with them! Is it any wonder we had to act.

but didn't Ekeus say that Iraq was free of weapons during the 90's?

Absolutely. It's a mucky business, but it's more the fact Ekeus' appointment was vetoed by the French, Russians and Chinese that undermines the whole process. Add to this Kofi Annan's son's involvement with oil for food, Tariq Aziz use of Vatican diplomatic channels to buy yellow cake and the whole corruption of sanctions (diesel shipped through Turkey) and you can see why the whole UN inspection process was compromised and Bush and his neocons (and his Dad's 'people') decided to go in.

I am guessing this isn't the yellowcake from Niger but another set. Do you have an article linking to it.

I am not trying to catch you out ...lol.

I think a Second Gulf War would have happened within this decade even if the 2003 invasion had not happened.

Yellowcake! I've got yellowcake!!!

"Add to this Kofi Annan's son's involvement with oil for food,"

Cheney's Halliburton was probably the single biggest player in the oil for food scandal, which Bush gave a no-bid contract. That's like letting the Nazis rebuild Germany after WWII.

"Had Rolf Ekeus led the UNSCOM inspectors, as he had done in 1993, it is likely Saddam's (Franco-Russian?) stockpiles would have been found."

That is a fallacious statement. Iraq had no WMD and nobody with any knowledge about the subject believed anything else. You are a barefaced liar just like Bush. You Christian wackos had no legitimate reason to act.