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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (39948)	8/26/2002 11:33:03 AM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

If the Bush folk then ignore those comments, the war continues with mixed results, and the time period extends into several months, then the wheels begin to come off. I think you're wrong. The reason I think you are wrong is that since 9/11 we have acknowledged a fact we previously ignored, that we were engaged - quite against our will - in a war with terrorists. We looked the other way for years while Libya, Iran, Iraq, Syria and the like fostered terrorist groups quite openly, and attacked US property and people without any meaningful reprisal. We respected international boundaries. After 9/11, what Bush said, and the United States Congress agreed with, and the people of the United States agreed with, was that we had to stop terrorism no matter what it took. Some countries are helping us get rid of terrorists enthusiastically (Germany, Great Britain), others reluctantly (Iran, Saudi Arabia), others not at all (Iraq and formerly Afghanistan). This is not going to go away all by itself. Left alone, it will get worse. We have to do whatever it takes. It may not be finished in our lifetime. This isn't like VietNam, or Kosovo, or Somalia, where we were being do-gooders with no direct national interest at stake. This time it's personal. Even as I type, Israeli health care workers are being innoculated for smallpox, and the US is stockpiling enough smallpox vaccine for our entire population. miami.com Great Britain and Germany are stockpiling smallpox vaccine, as well. news.independent.co.uk hindustantimes.com US health care administrators are debating who we should innoculate. This is a very extreme step, given that a certain number of people who are vaccinated will suffer neurological damage. Why do you suppose this is happening? forbes.com Because we are fairly certain that Iraq has stockpiles of smallpox. The Iraqi military is regularly innoculated against smallpox (likewise North Korea). The one fact that tempers my belief that we will attack Iraq within the next two months is the fact that we don't yet have enough smallpox vaccine for everyone. We may hold back until we do. I agree with everyone that war is a terrible thing. We did not start this, but we must finish it.