It is quite arguable that Sadam should have been removed during the Gulf War. He is not a nice man. But there was not the political will to do anything other than impose sanctions which have probably effected the people of Iraq more than the rulers, which is not exactly fair in a non-democratic society who can't really choose their rulers.
But he wasn't. Now, if the "War Against Terrorism" continues on a purely reflex basis, the risk is that we will have achieved Bin Laden's objectives, of creating a West vs. Islam war.
The Islamic countries look at Israel, and see exactly how fair the West is. If a comparatively quiet Iraq gets attacked for alleged (and quite possible) scheming, whilst Israel and the Palestinians are at war, then the radicals will have all the proof they need to convince many Muslims who are quite moderate in their outlook.
Yeah, roll into Iraq under a UN banner and sort out democratic elections, but sort out the problem in Palestine first.
The fact that it is not really an issue of religion at all (the West would and have made deals with anyone they thought gave them some strategic advantage) is now irrelevant. Such political bias has been shown towards Israel when compared to surrounding Arab lands that to people in those lands, it is all to easy for them to see it as religiously motivated bias.
