Iraq's military capabilities were largely destroyed in Desert Storm I.

Balsa wood drones, missles that have a range of 150 Miles, and aluminum tubes to DO NOT = weapons of mass destruction.

Saddam is probably hiding chemical weapons, and so far the only times he has used them is in his war with Iran and on the Kurds. In both instances he did so with the full sanction of his handlers back in the US of A.

Rather than be presented with the manichean choice of disarmament or invasion, there is a third option; containment. It has worked (rather sadistically and unjustly) on Cuba and it could work here.

Ongoing inspections could be used as a method of containment. US Satellite intelligence is allegedly able to read a business card laying on the ground, so finding facilities for the production of chemical weapons should be a no brainer.

The only remaining question would be; "How do we relieve the suffering of the Iraqi people under Saddam's rule?"

The answer lies in partitioning.

The UN (and thus the US) controls 1/3 of Iraq via the 'No Fly Zones' established after Desert Storm I - The mostly Shiite area under the southern and the Kurdish areas under the norther NFZ.

If these areas were made part of a UN protectorate, Infrastructure, humanitarian relief and democratic instutions could be developed in these areas providing a model for future intervention.

These areas could be protected with a fraction of the forces (and money) that were are currently planning to employ in invading Iraq. The only mandate for the use of force would be in the protection of refugees fleeing the parts of Iraq still controlled by Hussein.

So you see, there are many options to wholesale invasion of a country who hasn't attacked us.