As to the troops staying in Iraq for a long term, we broke it (threw out saddam) we need to fix it, otherwise all that will happen is it will devolve into a civil war.

As to lies, I've yet to see the President (like who it is or not, he holds the office, please give due respect to the office if not the person holding it) proven to have lied. I've heard countless people who oppose him accuse him of lying, yet it continues to be a classic case of mudslinging......throw it up against the wall and see what sticks. If nothing out of this batch sticks, keep slinging.

As to President Bush taking unilateral action in Iraq, Prior to the war, only three european countries opposed the war...............France, Germany, and Russia. What do these three countries have in common? They are all among the largest recipients of illegal oil for food money, they all sold weapons to Iraq after the embargo following the Gulf War was in place, and these three stood to make the most gains if Saddam Hussein stayed in power and the UN Sanctions were lifted (France, 40 Billion Dollar contract to improve oil fields, Russia, 60 billion dollar contract to do similar work, and Germany, who also had significant contracts promised to them). The three countries also held large amounts of Iraqi debt from weapons sales (many illegal weapons sales) and oil field work already completed which they stood to lose if the caolition forces removed Hussein.

As to the President planning the invasion before 9/11, the US Military has plans to invade probably every non-allied country on the face of the earth on the shelf, and these plans are rountinely updated. Anyone ever consider that this was part of a routine review?

As to WMD.......Prior to the war, there were many US allies (and non allies) who suspected that Iraq had WMD. Check out old issues of Janes Defense weekly at the local library. Democrats and Republicans alike had been hammering for years to end the situation and remove Saddam from power. The Democrats just can't stomach the idea (Senator Kerry in particular made some extremely hawkish comments in the late '90s, but changed his mind when he was running against the President (or did he? Depended on the sound bite)) To quote Naill Fergueson, the question shouldn't be why did the US lead an invasion of Iraq, but instead the question should be why it took 13 years and 22 violated UN resolutions to do it.