That is why having the White House lie its way past Congress and attempt to strong-arm other countries to invade Iraq on false pretenses does not bother you in the least. WMDs were just an excuse.
All or nothing with you isn't it... Your ability to analyze and understand foreign policy decisions are limited to "black and white", single issue debates..
But let's lay it out, though it will be lost on you because of your willful inability to understand it, but for everyone else who might be questioning..
The administration has stated something that I happen to agree with.. What was "tolerable" prior to 9/11 became a risk we could no longer take AFTERWARD.
Saddam might have been containable prior to 9/11, but there was too much risk that he might make common cause with Al-Qaeda once the latter group had directly attacked the US mainland.
One thing many people fail to consider about Saddam is his megalo-mania... He believed he was the new Saladin, destined to unite the Arab people once again against the West.. He wanted to recapture the "glory" of past days, all fueled by the region's oil wealth, and his continuing desire to possess WMDs, which he would have used as an implicit, or actual, threat against the Western economies (and likely even China and Russia).
And once Al-Qaeda displayed its ability to directly strike the US mainland, it was plainly obvious that Bin Laden and his gang were a force to be reckoned with.. And a DIRECT RIVAL to Saddam's aspirations for controlling the region. A threat posed by the Wahhabists..
But he was hampered by the sanctions and continued containment by US/UK forces. So while its obviously not in his interest to form a public alliance with Al-Qaeda, it certainly behooved him to attempt to influence their actions and objectives in a manner that would benefit his goals.. namely distracting the US from paying attention to him, or requiring the UN to enforce those 17+ binding resolutions that resulted from his invasion of Kuwait and refusal to fully disclose all of his WMD inventories and program activities to the satisfaction of the UNSC.
Islamic Fundamentalism, via Al-Qaeda and its system of Madrassas, is Saudi Arabia's attempt to dominate the region culturally and politically. This is a threat to Saddam's regional power.. But once again, those nasty Americans stand in his way and refuse to cut him any slack, even post-9/11... So we see him sending his intelligence officers to Sudan and Afghanistan trying to broker a deal with the militants, offering his assistance (so long as it's deniable) for them to attack the US.
But Bin Laden knew he was sitting in the cat-bird seat. He needed very little politically from Saddam, but was likely more than willing to accept financial and logistical support from Iraq's able intelligence service (which had been engaged in smuggling through the sanctions for years)..
And if Saddam couldn't control Al-Qaeda, logic dictates that there was the distinct possibility that he might attempt to "one-up" them to regain his status.. Sure, it might take a couple of years, but once those nasty sanctions were removed, he would assert himself once again in the region against Saudi Arabia (where lies the heart of Islamic militantcy)..
Now maybe the French and Russians were content to think that they could "rehabilitate" Saddam and use him as a force in opposing Islamic militantcy, but that would merely be more of the same "war by proxy" and would have solved nothing.. It would not have dealt with the economic and social problems in the region.. And it would not have dealt with the grass-roots militancy stemming from the demographically driven poverty..
The only problem is that his willful intransigence when it came to whether he was fully in compliance with those US resolutions and his Desert Storm cease fire committments. And once again, regardless of the current lack of WMD stockpiles, there is still no evidence as to what became of them. Just stories, rumours, and incomplete information that no one has yet been able to verify.
But what IS CLEAR from David Kay's preliminary findings, is that SADDAM HAD EVERY INTENTION OF RE-COMMENCING HIS WMD PRODUCTION AS SOON AS UN SANCTIONS WERE LIFTED No doubt about that... None at all. He took steps to have all WMD program managers personally answer to him.
And to permit him to do this would have completely stripped the UN of any credibility as being a viable international organization for preserving peace and security. It would have meant rendering 17 UNSC binding resolutions null and void, as well as the countless years of political debates and arguments that have surrounded the post-Desert Storm Iraqi cease fire..
No... "rehabilitating Saddam" was not a viable option. At least not one that we could have politically been able to deal with... The only realistic manner to deal with the problem was to attempt to the change the nature of the regimes and cultures in the region. To encourage moderation and progress, and not "divide and conquer" proxy battles between dictatorial regimes in the region..
But this is not a "quick fix" solution.. It takes long-term dedication and will to carry it out. And it requires a long-term presence in the region by US (and hopefully other UN) forces to bring economic and political opportunity to the Arab world.
Any yeah... maybe we'll fail to accomplish this mission in the end.. Maybe we'll never see muslims willing to practice their religion under the constitutional safeguards of a secular democratic government..
You may think such efforts are in vain, GST.. But for me, it's CRITICAL.. It's critical to change the nature of the intolerant and militant cultures in the region.. It's critical to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli situation (without permitting Palestine to become just another dictatorship).
It's critical because the demographics cannot be ignored... One only has to look at how demographics have shaped the America during the period of the "baby-boom"..
Just imagine if all of those children had been born into a totalitarian and economically corrupt system.. Or born into some militant Christian Crusader regime, bent upon destroying Islamic influences..
But there weren't.. and this nation has prospered tremendously... And this is just what the Muslim world faces demographically...
We have a choice GST.. Permit the 400 million muslims currently under the age of 18 to grow up to become Jihadists...
Or help them to find a different way... A path to economic prosperity, political participation, and religious toleration and freedom..
I don't believe we're acting "in vain" when we attempt to advocate those beliefs. I believe it's our duty, and inherently in the interest of our national security..
Hawk |
