Strange. Why is half of this post italicized and the paragraphs separated by periods? (If you're cutting and pasting, there should be a link citing the source.)
Anyway:
94 percent of the people of Turkey don't want war...
Link to a poll showing this? Hopefully, a statistically sound one?
...but a $25 billion bribe to the government overrides that.
Does it?
So it seems that Turkey wasn't really haggling about the price, it just wouldn't accept payment by check or credit card. In return for support of an Iraq invasion, Turkey wanted - and got - immediate aid, cash on the barrelhead, rather than mere assurances about future help.
Cash is king, and a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow.
You'd almost think President George W. Bush had a credibility problem. And he does.
No doubt about that. We've been talking for six, maybe eight months now. No wonder Hussein is getting so brash as to suggest that they debate on TV.
The funny thing is that this administration sets great store on credibility.
Well, whether or not they have credibility, you'd expect them to say that, wouldn't you?
As the justifications for invading Iraq come and go - Saddam is developing nuclear weapons; no, but he's in league with Osama; no, but he's really evil - the case for war has come increasingly to rest on credibility.
None of those reasons have been ruled out completely. At this point, I think it's Hussein's credibility that's under scrutiny, not ours. At least, in a primary sense.
You see, say the hawks, we've already put our soldiers in position, so we must attack or the world won't take us seriously.
It's absurd to say that with troops in position, we're obligated to attack. What's legitimate - and I'm not at all sure that you're perceiving the argument as it's being put forth - is that the U.N. has become more of a hindrance and threat to peace and security than it's worth. It is in action against a flagrant and repeat violator that "serious[ness]" is proven, not in marshalling troops.
But credibility isn't just about punishing people who cross you.
No, it's not just about that.
It's also about honoring promises, and telling the truth.
"Honoring promises," like, U.N. resolutions?
And those are areas where the Bush administration has problems.
Like what? Have a few examples? I'm not sure that what you (or whatever undocumented source you're citing) are calling "promises" are such, or that "promises" necessarily survive events like September 11th or twelve years of U.N. resolution violations.
LPS5 |
