No, not by Iraq. But Iraq was a state known to be hostile to us, with links to international terrorism, and a predisposition to use weapons of mass destruction. It was obvious that it would take opportunities to undermine our interests in the region, and therefore, under the circumstances, that it would be counted on to sponsor terrorist attacks. Whether it had sponsored such attacks or not, it was too dangerous to wait until they tried to drive us out of the region through proxies, or decided to carry out threats to sponsor attacks made at the end of the first Gulf War.
The Domino Theory said nothing about the rest of the world going commie. I all had to do with south Asia. And it was at least partially correct: Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia all went Communist. However, Thailand, Myanmar, and India did not, perhaps because we had exhausted the Communists.
As I said, there is a difference, given public pressure, in the way one goes about it, and what one tries to achieve.......... |
