Actually I would say that was one of the long-term side effects of the invasion, not the "main reason".

And when you think about it... if he was unimpeded...I think Hussein would probably have nuclear weapons by now or be close to it with means to deliver them to many strategic places.

That was why his refusal to abide by the treaty was a long-term threat.

And I must agree that Bush is a great President for recognizing existing and emergent threats and "nipping them off at the bud" so-to-speak before they could grow.

But to charachterize the invasion as exclusively "pre-emptive" of that , when the reality is that pre-empting that thing was only one of the beneficial side effects of the invasion....

Well...it's simply ludicrous.

Hussein had proved over and over again to be a threat without nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons would have just made the regime even more threatening than it already was.

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