What Aspin did was a tactical error
Colin Powell PERSONALLY requested those armored forces. Les Aspin refused to listen to the advice of his ranking military advisor.
I'd say that was quite an error and many soldiers (and innocent Somalians) died as a result.
But strategically, Somalia, Kosovo was in a different class that Iraq.
How so? If I'm not mistaken, the UN issued binding resolutions against Somalia, as they did in Kosovo.. These resolutions could be, and were, enforced through the use of military might.
Just as UN resolutions were enforced by the US and other coalition members in Iraq.
Terrorism remains at the same level if not more, no WMD and there are more terrorists in Iraq now (foeign terrorists I believe have infiltrated) than before the war.
How do you define terrorism? The entire Baathist regime regularly terrorized the Iraqi people. In fact, they terrorized them to such an extent that they killed an estimated 500,000 of them, 1/40th of the total population.
They were terrorizing the Iraqi people up until, and through, the war, killing anyone who might be perceived as opposed to Saddam. They forced civilians to attempt to break through US checkpoints and forcing a armed response by unwitting US soldiers.
So for the Iraqi people, there has been an overall REDUCTION of terrorism.
Hawk, do you really believe now that Iraq had WMD or is it that Saddam had trapped the USA into believing that .
It's irrelevant what I believe. What's relevant is that Saddam FAILED to comply with the UN ceasefire and disarmament agreements. The UNSC declared his regime in MATERIAL BREACH, Chinu..
Material Breach means that Saddam have VIOLATED the cease fire accord.
We know Saddam HAD WMDs. Iraqi records, and their use against the Kurds, are clear about this.
And there is NOTHING that indicates that Iraq had fully accounted for their WMD inventories, in particular 6,000 chemical warheads they had falsely claimed were expended during the Iran-Iraq war.
So what you have to ask yourself is whether you really believe they could just "misplace" 6,000 warheads?
but France, Germany and Russia knew that Iraq had no WMD because of their closer ties
Then why did they vote in favor of UNSC 1441 which declared Iraq in material breach?? Obviously none of them could present sufficient evidence to make a case that Iraq didn't have them.
And we did find banned biological culture material, as well as discovering Iraq was violating the range limitations on their ballistic missiles.
Bottom line, the onus was on Iraq to prove they no longer were in possession of, or planning future manufacture of, WMDs and the means to deliver them.
They failed to do so... Case closed.
And now the EU is complaining about not being permitted to participate in the bidding process for Iraqi reconstruction...
B*tching DESPITE not providing any support or forces to restore sufficient "order" in Iraq so that the spineless UN will return.
Hawk |
