Left I on the News

CNN's John Roberts yesterday, on Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room:

"And then, of course, there is the issue, if they do get sanctions leveled against Iraq -- leveled against Iran, are they going to work? Don't forget, Iraq endured 11 years of sanctions, and, you know, we stil had to go to war to get rid of what it was that they had."

Readers know very well that it is know well-known that Iraq destroyed all its WMD in the early 90's, and that virtually the entire period of sanctions had to do with "keeping Saddam in a box" and nothing to do with "getting rid of what it was that they had" (Clinton, for example, vowed that sanctions would never be lifted while Saddam was in power, regardless of the existence of WMD). Unless by "what it was that they had," Roberts was referring to the life that 100,000+ Iraqis still had in 2003. Or perhaps he was referring to electricity, water, food, safe streets, and decent (though seriously degraded from what it had been) health care, all of which, if not completely "gotten rid of," have been significantly diminished.

Hat tip to Daily Kos diarist katchen.