good post.
I think what most unsettles the French, Germans, etc., is how open-ended our goals seem to be. The reasons made for "regime change" in Iraq, can equally well be made against a whole group of other governments.
IMO, deterrence and containment are the best way to deal with bad governments that are threatening WMD and conventional war on others. They can be deterred, because they have something to lose. This worked on Mao and Stalin, and so it should work on the likes of Saddam and Kim.
Our pre-emptive attacks, our "regime-changing", should be reserved for Terrorist Safe Havens, places where the government allows terrorist groups to organize, recruit, get funding, train, spread their ideology. Lots of other countries have far worse track records than Iraq, as Terrorist Safe Havens. Saudi Arabia, for instance. |
