We are already "involved in the middle east" The fact that 30% of the oil and 93% of terrorism in the US comes from the middle east means that we will be involved there for a while.
Saddam is not a nice guy. His friends will tell you that. In 1981 Israel destroyed a French Nuclear reactor near bagdad. We and the whole world condemned the action. Why would a guy sitting on the 15% of the world's known supply of oil need a Nuclear reactor? He could 100% power his and a few other countries with the natural gas burnoff from his oil wells.
Scientists who were in charge of the nuclear program said the only purpose of the reactor was to produce nuclear weapons.
That was 1981. In 1991 saddam invaded Kuwait and threatened Saudi Arabia. In Gulf war I, we destroyed most of his army and we had Iraq sign a cease fire agreement.
In the cease fire agreement, Saddam promised to destroy all of his weapons of mass destruction and destroy all missiles with a range over 93 miles OR THE CEASE FIRE WAS OFF AND WE WOULD START BOMBING AGAIN
In the last 12 years, Saddam has not destroyed his weapons of mass destruction as of a few weeks a go was still building missiles with a range of more than 93 miles and basically thumbing his nose a the cease fire agreement he signed.
We can do two things:
1. We can continue to let him do what he feels like.
or
2. We can take him out.
If we do #1, sooner or later he will have a nuclear bomb...then what? doing number #2 will become 20 times riskier, not only for the US military but for civillians, too.
If Saddam wasn't a murderous pathelogical liar billionaire, I'd be all for #1. Too bad he is.