Al Re... He showed with facts and solid logic that Iraq is NOT a threat to the US and that Saddam is effectively contained.
It is faulty reasoning. In order to contain Saddam, we have had 12 yrs of sanctions, which according to Saddam and Ramsey Clark, has resulted in 1.5 million deaths in Iraq. We have had to bomb Iraq on a weekly basis, to eliminate radar and sam missile threats, and we have had to keep troops in SA and Kuwait. All of those were responsible for the rise of Al Qaeda. Its been over 4000 days, and enough is enough. This containment has cost a lot. Far more than finishing off the job right in the first place would have.
Hence the mission is regime change, and that is a matter for the UN, not the US alone.
Why wouldn't it be a matter for both the US and the UN. And if it requires a regime change to ensure national safety, and the UN doesn't want to go along, does that mean we have to fore go national security. Only an idiot would think that.
To do it outside the UN means that the US alone will own the reponsiblity of what follows.
When you consider how inept the UN was in Rawanda and Bosnia, why would anyone think the US won't shoulder most of the burden here anyway.
If it is a quagmire, the nations who did not support us will be more than happy to disavow any accountability and obligation to help.
The US basically had to do the Gulf war, Bosnia, and Afghanistan war by ourselves and Britian anyway. The UN basically helped with the peace afterwards. What is the difference?
He reasoned quite correctly that Bush is trying to hustle the nation and the world.
He is trying to say that WMD aren't the primary reasons for going after Iraq; and that GW's primary purpose is regime change. However that regime change is far more difficult than merely finding the WMD. I agree, and GW agrees. Powell wanted to go through the UN, and the UN had all of these resolutions banning the WMD. In fact it was enforcement of those resolutions, which caused the rise of Al Qaeda. So, in order to get UN support, WMD was given as the official reason. I would consider it likely that regime change was GW main intent all along; however it must be said that WMD are an important part of needing the regime change. To get rid of the WMD, you must get rid of Saddam, because there is no way Blix will ever be able to say he has found all of the WMD. And without getting rid of the WMD, the troops must stay in Sa, and the sanctions must stay on ad nauseum; giving rise to more OBL. |
