 Bush's War in Iraq
Mjulian wrote:
"But the Bush camp mucked this thing up so bad that in fact, the opposite has occurred: Iran, Syria, North Korea, et. al. are infact emboldened."
Mjulian, that you're willing to admit that Bush Jr. is actually fallible, shows hope.
First, with regard to the State Dept. & FBI "de facto" stand-downs, I cited what I believe to be a credible circumstantial evidence to reach my conclusion. It is your right to disagree. The OJ Simpson jury also disagreed with the circumstantial *evidence* ...
As for Bush Sr. "baiting" Saddam Hussein, even if you choose to ignore the heresy testimony from the Paki interpreter, it is still absolutely clear that Ambassador Glaspie did NOT advise Hussein that if the 30,000 troops he had recently mustered to the border of Kuwait, if those [Iraqi] troops crossed into Kuwait, the US would respond militarily. This inference (Glaspie did NOT warn Hussien) can be drawn from (an undisputable source you choose to ignore) John Kelly, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, testimony to Congress (2 days before he invaded):
"United States has no commitment to defend Kuwait and the US has no intention of defending Kuwait if it is attacked by Iraq."
Of course, I chose to believe that Hussein never would have invaded Iraq if he had been warned of a US military response. If you want to believe- fanaticize - otherwise...it's your right.
Mjulian, you also wrote:
"Had the US executed this war effectively, and in the manner I had hoped, terrorists, and particularly the nations which sponsor them (mostly in that region), would reevaluate, post-haste, out of fear of meeting the same fate."
Here is the way I interpret this: Don't get us angry or we'll do to you what we did/are doing to the Iraqis... If this is what you're implying, very scary...MIGHT makes right...
Further, is there a template for invading a country and establishing a "regime"? The US was "effective" in the invasion, weren't we? We marched straight to Baghdad virtually unopposed. we then tried to establish a democracy in Iraq. A laudable goal - unachievable, but laudable.
What would you have suggested the US have done differently? Keeping in mind Sunnis would NEVER accept a political equation which would leave them subordinated to either the Kurds or the Shiites (Shiites and Kurds represent apprx. 75% of the population) . Won't hold my breath waiting for this one.
And as for my comment about "unnecessary slaughter of hundreds and hundreds of thousands of innocent people" I picked that up from another site. It was suppose to read "hundreds and hundreds of thousands of 'victims'". And I assume "victims" refers to the dead, wounded/ maimed and missing in Iraq.  |