In reply to:

What you describe above is exactly what happened after 9/11!

That's not how I see it. Yes, there was an existing conflict between non-overtly sanctioned international fundamentalist Muslim forces and the West. But the evidence linking Iraq to any such forces is scarce.

The fact that he possessed WMDs at some point was never in question. More important than posession, however, is intent. Was Saddam a real risk to our national interests? Highly debatable. That's the crux of the issue.

Hitler and his allies WERE a clear threat to our national interests. He happened to rise to power at a time when isolationism was our country's modus operandi, and it's easy to blame our lack of earlier action on the blinders that resulted from such non-forward-thinking policy.