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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: g_w_north who wrote (149840)	8/16/2002 6:40:46 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1580849

If Kuwait's main export was broccoli, I wonder what Bush would have done? If Kuwait's main export was broccoli but it was still in the same area and Bush thought Saudi and its oil was threatened then the intervention may have happened just the way it did. If the whole region was full of broccoli instead of oil and Iraq was weak (but still stronger the Kuwait) then a smaller intervention might have happened. If the region was full of only broccoli and Iraq was as strong as it was before we smashed their army then there probably would have been a protest and perhaps talk of sanctions but probably no military intervention. Now that I answered the literal question I'll answer what seems to be implied by the question. If you did not mean to imply this I apologize in advance. The fact that we might not of intervened if there was no oil does not mean that it was all only about oil and even if it was it would have still been justified. A threat to our strategic interests can and often will be met by force. In this case the threat included an invasion of a country that we had decent relations with and did not want to see absorbed by an aggressive foreign power, so there is no question that the intervention was justified. Tim

To: g_w_north who wrote (149840)	8/17/2002 10:35:46 PM
From: i-node	Respond to of 1580849

10 years ago the world went there to liberate oil. If Kuwait's main export was broccoli, I wonder what Bush would have done? ;->> We went to liberate Kuwait so as to protect our oil supplies. I, for one, would have been less interested in the liberation of Kuwait had oil not been a concern. Like it or not, whenever substantial oil supplies are put in jeopardy, our national security is at stake and we must take action. There is no shame in that; we are dependent on foreign oil, and will be for a long time to come (when we have an opportunity to actually decrease our dependence on foreign oil, the liberals are against it). To the extent we are dependent on foreign oil, we may have to go to war from time to time to protect our interests. That we don't go around pointing this hard fact out to people should come as no surprise. But when asked, Bush 41 has been totally clear that the oil is what made it a national security issue for us. That was my point. AMERICA was not concerned about WMD, but I seem to remember quite vivid pictures of Israelis cowering in their homes wearing gas masks. That was AFTER the war started; this was one of the reasons that UN Resolution 687 included the provision for unfettered weapons inspectors, the violation of which Clinton foolishly ignored. Hence, my earlier point that the incompetence of Clinton in this matter ultimately is to blame for us being in the position we are in now, i.e., having to move against Saddam. Had Clinton done his job (instead of having the job done on him<g>) we could have continued with containment; OR, in the alternative, it would have been Clinton's responsibility to get Saddam in 1998. Bush is having to clean up MAJOR PROBLEMS created by having an incompetent administration precede him. Incidentally, this (cleaning up a mess) is not unlike what Nixon had to do when following LBJ or what Reagan had to do when following Carter. Basically, in the last 50 years, anytime we've had a Democrat for president it is has left a foreign policy nightmare for the incoming Republican (by the way I actually voted for Carter the first time; but the guy was just grossly incompetent, and that is the last time I voted for a Democrat for president, and I doubt I ever will again).