1. Containment of the Soviet communist threat. Our values of freedom and liberty are not in alignment with Soviet style communism. Therefore, containment of their influence in the region and threat of expansion was a priority.
Iraq wasn't a communist country, it was a brutal dictatorship that was using chemical weapons [which the Reagan and Bush Administration] helped provide. Even after Iraq used them on the Kurds, we still were providing material to Iraq. Iran or Iraq, we had no particular objection to who the chemical weapons were used on.
2. The free flow of oil with no clear victor in the conflict with Iran. A victorious dictator is not in alignment with the principles of a democratic Republic. Free flowing oil, which would have another disastrous effect on our economy if it stopped flowing, was a priority since our economy had just started recovering from the awful stagflation of the Carter years.
Shah of Iran was a victorious and brutal dictator [for a good long time with the help of the US] that enabled flow of oil to the US. The Royal families of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have little to do with freedom and democracy. We certainly didn't want Iraq to fall: is that a democratic Republic? The only democratic Republic in the region is Israel.
The principles of a democratic Republic in this instance seem to be limited to free flowing oil to the US. Who dies, how many, at whose hands, and by what means are not part of the principles within the Reagan and Bush Administrations.
... and was considered a laughing-stock by many nations of the world after Carter's failed attempt at freeing our hostages from Iran.
You would have to back that up with foreign sources. I find it unbelievable that foreign countries would make a far reaching assessment of our capability based on one failed mission. That's right wing propaganda. It's no different than the propaganda that Clinton was the laughing stock of the world. While that claim was being made, Clinton was getting a standing ovation at the UN. Standing ovations at the UN are rare events.
I might as well claim that the US military is a laughing stock of the world because we've lost some military aircraft due to mechanical failures in the last couple of years.
Perhaps you think Reagan exiting Lebanon after the Marine barracks were bombed establishes our military superiority in the eyes of the world. Or was it the defeat of the evil empire of Grenada that lifted the opinion of world on US military prowess? There was the Beaches of Normandy and the Beaches of Grenada. Not very similar, IMO.
The principles of a free people would not stand idly by while another country held our citizens hostage.
I suppose you're referring to Richard Pearle here?
In hindsight, mistakes were made. However, foreign policy hindsight always looks twenty-twenty when viewed from the vantage point of history.
There are certainly plenty of instances where that may be true. But claiming it is always true or true in this instance doesn't make it so.
Without a doubt, the Reagan and Bush Administration knew that Iraq was using chemical weapons against Iran and the Kurds. We continued to support that regime knowing full well of Iraq's development and use of WMD. The Reagan and Bush Administrations even aided in their development.
There's no moral compass. There are no moral principles. Every moral priniciple is compromised to ensure the flow of oil.
Since you mention the importance of world opinion. Pew did a poll, and virtually every country in the world has a lower opinion of the US than it did a year ago. The only exception was France and it was +1% [a statistical flat]. Muslim countries around the world were down 10-15%.
There are some significant implications when you think about the countries that contain fundamentalist Muslims and their opinion of the US is down 10-15%. It isn't down because the World Trade Centers leveled. It's down because of US foreign policy decisions under that current Administration.
Bush has nifty approval numbers in the US. And declining numbers around the world. To maintain those approval ratings in the US he has to contintue the policies that result in increasing disapproval numbers around the world. The US will continue to become more isolated from the rest of the world, and there will be more terrorism as a result. We'll be no safer and the attacks will increase. The capability to create biological agents from scraps of genetic material will refine and become increasingly easy to manufacture. And BMD won't help one iota.
jttmab |
