Re: Oh Mr. President, what now?
I hope you are correct, JB, and that history will prove this a correct action. I have my doubts.<br />We have gone under this theory of "trust our leaders, they know what they are doing" before, and now with Johnson's memoirs released, he confided early on that he knew the Viet Nam war was unwinnable, as did Robert McNamara in his book. It is not the only example.<br /><br />I suppose I would feel just a bit better if we would share this secret intellligence we are alleged to have with the UN inspectors, or that our President would at least pretend that he hopes the UN Inspections are successful.<br /><br />Or that our President would show at least some skill with diplomacy, and not appear to the world as a simple schoolyard bully.<br /><br />When he starts his administration with his "axis of evil speech" and then go on to West Point and announces his "Bush Doctrine" where we will preemptively strike any we percieve as a threat, what is a country like North Korea to think? And now that there are troubles, what is this administration doing? Telling everyone this can be handled diplomatically, yet not even talking to the North Koreans, and apparently leaving the talking to the governor of New Mexico, for crying out loud!<br /><br />And asking for a reprimand for North Korea abandoning their treaty, just after we abandoned the ABM treaty so that we could pursue a multiple hundred billion dollars Missle defense system against a threat that is arguably no longer relevant and no longer even exists with a technology that I have yet to find a competent scientist willing to say that it will ever work.<br /><br />I hope you are right. I hope history proves that these were just the right moves at just the right time.<br /><br />It takes a giant leap of faith, I think, to really believe that--far more faith than I can muster.<br /><br />John
<br /><br />1. Generally, Hussein is a proven threat to international security, he is interested in developiong chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons and has shown a willigness to use such weapons on Iraq's neighbors but also against Iraq's Kurdish population. Iraq has to be removed as a threat now before it has the ability to lash out at Israel, Saudia Arabia, Kuwait or US troops stationed in the region.<br /><br />2. Alternatives to invasion won't solve the problem. UN inspectors were unable to certify that Iraq had disarmed its WMD programs due to Iraqi obstructions. Since the inspectors left Iraq in 1998 Hussein has had considerable time to rebuild his WMD program and to improve his ability to hide critical facilities.<br /><br />3. If Iraq were to acquire Weapons of Mass Destruction it could threaten regional stability and deter any potential military action against Iraq. Hussein and his gorvenment believe that it was their possession of chemical and biological weapons that deterred the Coalition Forces from invading Iraq during Desert Storm. A WMD capable Iraq would become a regional hegemon.<br /><br />4. Winning the war would be easy and the costs would be minimal. The Iraqi military was devestated during the Guld War and has continued to suffer after 11 years of sanctions and other military actions. The United States and its allies can achieve their goals with relatively few troops and costs can be measured as low as $20 billion.<br /><br />5. Removing Hussein would be consistent with the goals of the war on terrorism. Iraq has a track record of supporting terrorism throughout the Middle East. A change in regime would eliminate a state sponsor of terrorism. <br /><br />6. The Iraqi people would support this action. They live under a brutal and repressive regime with little or no true freedoms. <br /><br />7. A democratic Iraqi government would help with the Middle East peace process. Moderate Iraqi regime would discourage militants and boost the credibility of moderate Palestinians who are interested in peace. Iraq financially supports the families of suicide bombers in Palestine, a change of regime could bring an end to this practice. <br /><br />8. If Hussein develops chemical, biological or nuclear weapons he could give the weapons to terrorist organization who could use those materials against the United States or its allies. <br /><br />9. Toppling Hussein will have little or no negative impacts the region.<br /><br />10. How many sanctions did he break? 16 Each one broken has given us the oppurtunity to take appropiate action. Enough is enough, thank god we have a leader in power that has the balls to call a man out.<br /><br />As the infamous Japanese general said after the attack of perl harbor, "Im afraid all we have done is awoken a sleeping giant". May this be true to al queda, iraq, north korea or any other nation that threatens our way of life.
