Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[Babylon]

Saddam and others are not unlike the teenager. If we don't enforce our rules, the next offense will be worse, and the next offense after that will be even worse.

Part of the problem is we think the world is our teenager, and our fellow mankind doesn't care for that type of control nor relationship. Secondly, and probably more importantly is, "the rules" you're pointing out. Those rules can be construed by any Nation as cause for War with the cloak of premptive attack on its face. Not all law is good law.