Yeah, but the cat was outta bag with the weapons. You can't Monday morning quarterback everything. But working with the event as is, the invasion, how would death with that?Not having provided him the weapons would have prevented him from invading.
Saying that an invasion would be tantamount to a war with the US would have prevented him from invading.
Telling to fucking leave would have forced him to leave, especially if there's a way for him to save face.
Also, didn't the US tell Saddam to leave? Why do you think the UN was in such lockstep?
That said I'm anti sanctions—they only hurt civilians. And I do think the response was excessive.