I agree he should have been deposed in 1991, but he wasn’t. 2003 wasn’t 1991. I also didn’t say “without provocation”, I said “on a phony pretext [WMDs] without legal justification”. Much of what you listed would have justified a drive to Baghdad in 1991, but they chose not to. You don’t get to bank that for later.
I’m talking about international law. Law that America helped to establish and cajole others into becoming signatories to. America is a linchpin of the system that applies that law. And America, in this case, ignored it, invaded Iraq, and brought about all the horrendous stuff that came of that. It was a war of aggression, and the leaders of a less powerful state would face accountability for that. Rumsfeld never did because America’s might shields them from that.
What would have been a more viable option would have been not invading and focusing on the war they already had.