I have a question.
You criticize Bush Sr for not taking care of Iraq. So I take this to mean you think it was necessary then to take care of Iraq and Bush Sr failed.
Steve, I think when you have an opportunity, you seize it and take advantage of it. Saddam had invaded Kuwait; we repelled his armies and then we should have gone all the way and had him step down from office.
Instead, we had the UN negotiate an impossible weapons inspection agreement. I'm sure it was a well meaning step but how can anyone have expected that this would be a doable situation over the long haul. Such a system barely works with an individual who's on parole for a limited period of time, let alone on a large, foreign country.......indefinitely! This isn't hindsight talking; they should have known back then they were implementing an awkward solution to the Saddam problem. Its no wonder we're back to square one ten years later.
Now you are criticizing Dubya for taking care of Iraq. Therefore I take this to mean you are against taking care of Iraq.
That's not what I'm saying. Ten years ago, Saddam invades a country with the intent to rape and maim and annex, and you slap his hand........and really, that's all we did. Flash forward ten years, and he has reneged on an awkward weapons inspection agreement and the punishment is taking him out..........huh? It makes little sense; it will be a horrific war; very expensive and acting it out now will set back our relations in the world severely.
What changed for you to think Iraq was a threat in the past but it is not now?
I feel threatened by any rogue nation.....Iraq, Libya, Syria, Pakistan, N. Korea, Venezuela, Ukraine etc. What's to stop Venezuela from using their oil money to buy WMD? Do you think Iraq is the only threat to us in the world? Are we to go after every one of these nations and clean them up?Trust me, by the third cleanup job, we will be dirt broke and no longer a super power.
And if you think the US is in danger now because of Ai-Qaeda, and possibly bin Laden, just wait and see how much danger we'll be in if we undertake an unholy war with Iraq. Every rogue nation will be gunning for us. I think our greatest danger now is not from an invading army or a flotilla of incoming missiles but rather the lone, suicide nuke bomber or mad guy who releases smallpox into the ecosystem, and any nation with enough money can pull such an attack off.
Last nite on the news, they said we're spending $245 million to improve our image in the world thru commercials and multi language broadcasts. I'd rather that our actions spoke louder than expensive canned commercials, and we didn't have the need to spend all that money on advertising.
ted |
