Most bad things that happened in and outside of Middle East after 1991 could have been avoided had Bush Sr. and Pussy Powell let Schwartzkopf destroy Saddam's Republican Guard after the regular Army was defeated. Maybe Bush misunderstood the meaning of "Republican" in that context and thought he coundn't kill fellow party members...   

Just to add to this:

I will never, EVER forget what I saw and heard when they announced that we invaded Afghanistan. It was back in 2002, and I was listening to a NASCAR race on the radio (why I was, I have no friggin' clue). They announced that war had commensed, and we had troops on the ground.

The entire 200,000 stadium absolutely erupted with cheering. For minutes on end. Crazy stuff. I do agree that had Bush done 'nothing', people's anger may have kicked him out of office, as he was viewed as a cowboy no-holds-barred president, which in late 2001-2002 was viewed as a very good thing to average people (who supported the war like 70-90% initially).

No no, it was all the WMD's of course. No, wait, it was to liberate the Iraqi people. No, wait, both those are bullshit, there are other regimes in the world far more terrible than Saddam ever was in nations that would be far, far easier to conquer so I somehow doubt that "Operation Iraqi Freedom" as it was suddenly dubbed, commenced out of the kindness of the hearts of the gentlemen in suits.

There is also stark contrast in the way Europeans and Americans view this war.

No... actually the evidence that I read seems to suggest that George Bush was largely tricked by a few key whitehouse players and his own wishes into believing Iraq was going to develop Nuclear Weapons as part of a plan to have a stablizing force in the middle east where we could deploy troops from.  Afterall Bush did have reasons to invade Iraq.

That was a while ago though... so I can't really remember where i got that from at the moment.  I'll check it up.

Think it was a book though.

So... your suggesting Halliburton intentionally electricuted troops,

caused the BP Oil spill... (somehow!)

and... I don't see the problem with number 3... unless your suggesting they caused illegal immigration or illegal immigration is made up for them to get contracts.

People aren't depending corproate interests... they're being not paranoid.

I think there's a pretty simple reason why Americans view the war differently. It has to do with watching people jump to their deaths live on TV.

How would the average frenchman feel if the Eiffel Tower was bombed, and they watched people jump from it and hit the concrete?

Even if Iraq is a small oil producer for USA it allows them to have a base in the area. It gives a strategic presence close to Saudi Arabia and other oil producers, allowing them to withdraw from Saudi space. You don't have to be buying the oil direct from a country to make it matter. Controlling and influencing production is important as it has a direct impact on price.

Of course, oil is but one reason amongst many as has been stated.

Well, some of us would still question attacking nations in response. What do you think the Iraqis think of people in their country being killed by US and UK bombing raids? Are they going to be happy?

The government used the attacks to deceive the people, just like they did in the UK. It was a war they had wanted since at least the Clinton Years and probably before. The Iraq war was never about those poor buggers jumping out the window, it was about Bush and his cohorts agenda.

Don't suppose you have read Bin Laden's writings on the matter. Quite interesting.

I think enough arabs and iraqi people watched their families dying live and no tv was needed. Pretty simple reason to view the war differently indeed.

Are you talking about those hundreds of thousands dying under Saddam's regime, or the US?