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

To: frankw1900 who wrote (48867)	10/2/2002 7:48:41 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 281500

The leadershhip of the Soviet Union was not willing to bet the farm. They were "reasonable". So it turned out, in retrospect. We had no guarantees of that at the time. We almost had a war over Cuba, and we could have had one at any time if the USSR had selected an unbalanced General Secretary. Cold War containment happened to 'contain' itself to proxy wars, but that doesn't mean it's a desirable system. Particularly when the other party is a megalomaniac bent on revenge.

To: frankw1900 who wrote (48867)	10/3/2002 12:17:35 AM
From: Dayuhan	Respond to of 281500

The leadershhip of the Soviet Union was not willing to bet the farm. They were "reasonable". Saddam is not. His judgement is horrible. He has shown no sign whatsoever of being suicidal. A lot of people have been saying that the man is insane; I think that's somewhat exaggerated. Cruel, yes. Vicious, yes. A good number of other things as well. But most of his moves show a certain degree of calculation. The attack on Iran was based on the assumption that the new theocracy in Iran commanded little popular support and would crumble, as well as, it deserves to be said, on the approval and encouragement of the US. These assumptions proved wrong, but were hardly insane. The attack on Kuwait was also based on erroneous assumptions, and the consequences were devastating to Iraq. The man has not been appeased, and his capacity to threaten his neighbors is vastly reduced. I think that we are underestimating the danger of setting a precedent for preemptive war, especially when the threat is a good deal less threatening than some would have us believe. b