Before I can be misunderstood, let me say that a war against Iraq could weaken US hegemony, who would be a good thing. Let´s examine the question.
1-A war on Iraq could worsen the budget deficit of the USA (estimated to be around US$300 billion this year, withouth war expenses) 2-Iraqs could get rid from Saddam dictatorship (this would be collateral benefit....however, a puppet US government could be better to Iraq people but not too better than Saddam´s one, on the other hand, the lift of sanctions would itself be a good thing). 3-The USA could be involved in a costly long term occupation of a hostile country 4-A conquest war could expose some vulnerabilities of the USA army, thus rendering the US leadership less prone to imperial adventure (althought I doubt the Iraq army can put significant resistance...anyway, 500-1000 losses would be enough, since the US army is obssessed with 0 casualties doctrine) 5-Costs of occupation could make the USA suffer from what I call imperial obesity, the situation where a power has more military expenses and obligations than it can afford. Countries like UK and USSR lost their empires by that reason. 6-A unilateral US adventure could worsen the relationship between US and Europe (interimperialist rivalries are always welcomed) 7-This war could promote Kurdish nationalism and destabilize Turkey. So imperialist running dogs will think twice before aligning with US adventures again. 8-If the conflict does not go as planned, some nasty European governments could be waekened (think Berlusconi) 9-maybe we have other reasons....
Alexandre Fenelon