political discourse

Kat, I would hate to think that political discourse has become so poisoned by snarky comments that we can no longer have a functioning democracy. I think this paper makes some good points, the main one to me being that it is vital that citizens are able to discuss issues of the day civilly. Civil Political Discourse In A Democracy "Jefferson and the other founders of the United States democracy expected that the clash of opposing positions within political discourse would increase citizens' understanding of the issue and the quality of their collective decision making."

Aside from that, what you presented did not make your case. The links you sent did not say the war was legal. I can go into detail in another post put you might want to look at these links which do address legality:

"The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has told the BBC the US-led invasion of Iraq was an illegal act that contravened the UN charter." And even the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded that the invasion of Iraq had been illegal. He is right, and the fact is the US signed the UN Charter. A preemptive attack on Iraq violates the United Nations Charter, which is a treaty and part of the supreme law of the United States under Article 6, clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. signed the UN Charter and we are obligated to uphold the law according to our own Constitution. A treaty that we sign becomes the "law of the land" according to our Constitution. See: Big Media Refuses to Report this Basic Fact: Attacking Iraq Violates International Law

The US and UK can not legally decide what is enforcement of a UN resolution and on their own "enforce" a UN resolution. "The position that individual member states can respond to claimed violations of the ceasefire agreement between Iraq and the UN without the consent of the Security Council is inconsistent with the role of the council and is an unsustainable view of international law." See: The Iraq War was Illegal Mr. Kamm

And I said nothing about a “conspiracy.”