Hawk, Bush is opposed to any foreign involvement in Iraq rebuilding.
That's blatantly wrong. It's those foreign governments who are asserting they will only provide when the UN is given complete control over the rebuilding of Iraq. And they are doing it for the same cynical reasons that nations such as France and Russia used the UN to protect their oil interests with the Baathist regime.
If they want to participate, they are welcome to do so.. I've seen nothing that the Bush administration has said which correlates with your assertion.
Liberia.. Why hasn't Nigeria and other ECOWAS nations stepped in to providing peace-keeping duties as of yet? What's holding them up?? Are they only willing to do so if the US is there to prop them up and finance them?
I feel for the Liberians.. I really do. But the US can only do so much and still remain capable of meeting obligations to other allies. So I'm leery of getting committed there when our economic interests are not critically challenged. It's a tough decision to make, but again, I don't feel any obligation to risk the lives of American soldiers unless it's in the direct interest of US national security, as the middle east is.
Do you think that there is a difference in approach by the US on the two issues, Iraq and Liberia.
You bet.. I don't see many other nations leaping forward to commit troops there. And if they are hesitant (given French interests in increasing their influence in Africa), then the US should be as well..
Iraq is a strategic interest to the US. We were spending $3 Billion per year containing Saddam. Our pilots were being shot at nearly every day by Iraqi AAA weapons, and we were facing increasing pressure to remove troops from Saudi Arabia to appease the militants and Saudi Royal family..
Iraq is a strategic and geographic wedge within the Middle East It divides Syria from Iran, it places US troops in a position to threaten the Saudis later on if they don't crack down on Wahhabist militants...
And most importantly, it brings Iraqi oil back into the world market as a major hedge against disruptions in Saudi Arabia.
The approach to the N. Korean issue is also one of involvement by other nations. But that is something we will leave for some other day.
Why leave it for another day? Bush just received a MAJOR VICTORY when Kim Jong Il drops his resistance to multi-lateral negotiations. I'm sure Kim has some more tricks up his sleeve before all is said and donw, but it's just as I was predicting.. China would eventually recognize that Bush was not going to back down to pressure, and that Bejing would realize they had no interest in permitting N. Korea to launch a nuclear arms race on the peninsula..
But will you, or any of the Bush haters, give his administration credit?
Figure the odds....
Hawk
Hawk |
