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

To: Jim DuBois who wrote (52481)	10/17/2002 12:56:03 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Iraq: The Q and A By Christopher Buckley The Washington Post Wednesday, October 16, 2002 Q: Where do Americans stand on invading Iraq? A: According to the latest polls, a majority of Americans are for "doing something" about Iraq, unless this means higher gasoline prices, a further decline in the stock market, U.S. casualties or an epidemic of smallpox. Q: Does President Bush have political motives in stirring up national sentiment against Iraq? A: While he has emphatically denied that the November elections play a role, a CD-Rom disc recently found in Lafayette Park belonging to Karl Rove, the president's political counselor, contains a file labeled, "How We Can Make the Democrats Look Like Dips in November by Fomenting War." Q: Does Bush have a personal motive for wanting "regime change" in Iraq? A: Aside from the fact that Saddam Hussein targeted his father for assassination in 1993, none. Q: Did Saddam Hussein also target his mother? A: Even Hussein is not mad enough to take on Barbara Bush. Q: Is Iraq worse than other countries in that part of the world? Really? A: There is some evidence suggesting that other countries in the Middle East, indeed the world, may be every bit as unpleasant. The Senate is scheduled to take up debate on this next week, following the debate on how dreadful Iraq is. Q: Why hasn't the United Nations enforced the resolutions it passed on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction? A: Under Article 45 (b) of the U.N. Charter, "the primary responsibility for saving the world from itself shall be the United States' problem" while the U.N. "shall concentrate on vetoing any U.S. attempt to do something about it and denouncing it for unilateralism." Q: Has the U.S. position on Iraq been consistent over the years? A: Yes. During Iraq's war with Iran, the United States "tilted" toward Iraq's side by supplying it with arms, satellite photos and material with which to build chemical and biological weapons. The United States, however, did express "displeasure" when Iraq mistakenly fired a missile at a U.S. warship in the Persian Gulf, killing numerous Americans. On the eve of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the State Department told Iraq that this was "strictly between you guys," requiring the United Sates to subsequently send half a million troops to the area to wage war. Having won the war, the United States declined to press the advantage and bring about what it now calls "regime change" on the grounds that it would upset Syria, Jordan and our most reliable ally in the region, the Saudis. Instead, the United States imposed a strict embargo on Iraq, causing serious delays in the gold-plating of the bathroom fixtures in 16 of Hussein's 78 presidential palaces. In the late 1990s, the Halliburton energy company of Texas, headed by now-Vice President Dick Cheney, sold Iraq millions worth of equipment with which to drill for oil embargoed by the United States. Q: Is it normal for a White House press secretary to call for the assassination of a foreign head of state? A: While this is not typical of official press announcements in the past, White House press secretaries are being given more and more latitude in their remarks about which foreign leaders they would like to see killed or violently removed from office. Presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer has also said that it would "not ruin my day" if someone "took out" German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder or Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and the leftist candidate expected to win election as president of Brazil. Q: Saddam Hussein is reported to use identical "doubles" for security purposes. How will we know if we have eliminated the right man? A: The CIA estimates that there are currently some 8 million Saddam Hussein look-alikes in Iraq. They are kept in the basements of the presidential palaces, in the cellars that house Hussein's collection of vintage Mateus rose wines. Following the U.S. invasion, the doubles will be individually tagged and taken to a new facility being built on the U.S. military base in Guantanamo, Cuba, where they will be sorted and undergo DNA analysis so that the actual Saddam Hussein can be tried for crimes against humanity. Q: Would the Iraqi military remain loyal to Saddam Hussein in the event of an overwhelming U.S. attack? A: Hussein has been successful over the years in inculcating loyalty and esprit de corps among his top military officers by paying them well, remembering family birthdays and other important dates, offering incentive weekend stays at presidential palaces and periodically shooting every third one during staff meetings. Q: Apparently the United States has plans, following a swift military victory, to occupy Iraq and administer it as it did postwar Japan and Germany. How long will it take to fashion a peaceful, pluralistic democracy out of a region of fractious tribes that have been killing each other since the seventh millennium B.C.? A: According to the State Department, "nation-building" in Iraq could take from six to nine months, depending on such factors as weather, ability to rapidly deploy McDonald's and Starbucks, and "stay-behind" Saddam Hussein doubles who might counterattack with Molotov cocktails made from empty bottles of Mateus. ___________________________________________________ Christopher Buckley is the editor of Forbes FYI. His new book is "No Way to Treat a First Lady." © 2002 The Washington Post Company washingtonpost.com