Also, Iraq is in the Middle East a strategically important region, both geographically and politically.

There's also the deterrence factor. Since our attack on Iraq, we've seen a greater willingness on the part of other middle eastern powers to eschew terrorism and/or weapons programs. Do you think its a coincidence that Ghaddafi suddenly decided to allow inspectors into Libya and to take steps to turn over harbored terrorists?

In any event, as I touched on before, the idea that we can't deal with one murdering dictator unless we deal with ALL evil dictators is a silly one. It's not unlike the argument, as noted before, that we can't apprehend one criminal unless we apprehend ALL criminals.