The American Secretary of State went to the United Nations and laid out proof of Iraq's continued development of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Proving that Iraq has these weapons isn't difficult. The hard part is finding them and getting them away from the maniacs running Iraq. UN inspectors have been unable to do that. The American armed forces will probably succeed. This was the message Secretary Powell's briefing put across. 

There are now 110,000 US troops in the Persian Gulf, with a fourth aircraft carrier arriving. This means some 300 carrier warplanes are now available. With land based aircraft, the total number of coalition warplanes in the area exceeds 800. Getting the full force of 150,000-200,000 American troops to the Persian Gulf will cost some $2.1 billion. Operations in Afghanistan are costing about $1.6 billion a month.