Hi Hawkmoon; Re: "The Nuclear Shield pertained ONLY to deterring direct attacks upon Russia." Agreed. And Iraq in possession of nuclear weapons would preclude direct attacks on Iraq.
Re: "Soviet Nuclear weapons PREVENTED the US from directly attacking the source of aggression performed by Soviet armed and directed proxy states."
Oh come on. Surely you're not going to compare a superpower like the USSR to a tiny nation like Iraq in terms of their abilities to foster revolutions &c., in small states? Christ on a crutch, do I have to review the sizes of the Soviet Union to Vietnam, Afghanistan, or Korea? Jesus Weeps, Iraq can't even control its own territory and you're worried about them invading their neighbors! The historical facts are that tiny little nations do not cause huge gigantic problems. They just don't have the economic muscle. The Soviet Union could barely afford to keep Cuba on the dole, what is Iraq going to do? And while all this is going on the victim nation can similarly be causing minor trouble in Iraq. And it's not like Iraq doesn't have fault lines where it is susceptible to that sort of thing.
But the basic fact is that the locals aren't asking for a US attack. They know the situation a hell of a lot better than you or I.
Re: "But they are also "offensive" in that they permit a nation to avoid the ultimate repercussions of any aggressive action against neighboring states."
This is true, but so what. Doesn't it strike you as kind of ironic that Iraq has avoided any "ultimate repercussions" (I assume you mean regime change) for its invasion of Kuwait. Iraq didn't need nukes for that, did they. And as far as aggressive actions against neighbors, that is something that you will have to look to the world community to define. Otherwise you will have to admit that many many actions by the United States would be classified as "aggressive actions". And what would a US attack on Iraq be without the backing of the world community? That's right, aggressive actions, but that's exactly what you're arguing for.
By the way, the definition of murder, as opposed to justifiable homicide, is not in the righteousness of the guy who pulls the trigger (except in his own mind). It's in the opinions and decisions of the community. If you want me to quote passages from the old testament in support of this, ask.
Re: "And don't even try and tell me that if Saddam obtains Nukes his position and prestige in the region won't increase substantially."
Your point? What is this, a popularity contest? Let's return to reality land. The fact is that Saddam does not have nuclear weapons. Will Iraq eventually have nuclear weapons? You bet, as I've said before, it is inevitable that nuclear weapons will proliferate.
Re: "Neither we, nor anyone else in the region, will risk nuclear escalation in defense of Jordan or Saudi Arabia. Israel can take care of itself since they have the means of destroying Saddam ..."
What's there to risk? All we do is announce "A nuclear attack on Jordan is equivalent to a nuclear attack on the United States and will be dealt with accordingly." It's not as if our donkeys are on the line.
That not good enough for ya? Then think about this: By the time Iraq has nukes, Pakistan or Egypt will probably be willing to sell nukes to Jordan or Saudi Arabia, even if we weren't. Of course that would be bad for US business, so I bet we'll be happy to do the selling. And everyone knows that US weapons deter better.
Re: "... nothing will prevent Saddam from continuing to fund an internal insurgency aimed at destabilizing Israel from within."
Saddam is doing that now, if you interpret the payments to the families of suicide bombers that way. (And anyway, my long standing comment is that Israel is going to go away.)
Re: "Nuclear, Biological, or Chemical weapons held by democracies don't frighten me. Their use is restricted by the temperance of their society."
I think your attitude is rather pollyannish, I think. You should remember that Hitler was elected to power. There is no solution to the problem: "Devise a foreign policy that will make the US perfectly safe."
-- Carl |
