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To: stockman_scott who wrote (153079)	2/16/2003 12:30:10 PM
From: Oeconomicus	Respond to of 164684

AJC Roundtable Discussion on Iraq accessatlanta.com Jay Bookman, AJC Columnist and usually hysterically anti-Bush, with Andrew Young and other panelists with many years of first-hand experience in these kinds of matters. A good read if you can stand some non-hysterical discussion of the matter, along with surrounding issues of Israel/Palestine, Iran, N. Korea, NATO/EU/Russia. Excerpts Young: It's not a choice between war and no war for me; it's a choice between do I support Bush or do I support Saddam Hussein? And I don't have any question in my mind that if Bush were not talking tough and acting tough, everybody in the world would just as soon look the other way until a nuclear weapon, you know, fell in Saudi Arabia's oil fields, and then they'd raise hell: "Why didn't the United States do something?" ... Kelly: There is reason to question the bona fides of the French and the Russian governments, both of which have signed major contingent oil contracts with Saddam Hussein's government pending the lifting of sanctions. And so they see a great commercial stake for France and for Russia in putting the finger in the U.S.' eye, blocking U.S. efforts to unseat the regime and to somehow get around this corner without any friction, leave Saddam in power and benefit commercially from that. ... Taqi: ... Eventually the U.S. will secure the removal of Saddam Hussein without the high cost [of killing] children and women. ... Young: I wish we could get some people into Iraq. That's what I would hope the French or the Russians or the Chinese would do, that they would find a way to become partners in this demilitarization process. If they don't like war, OK, go in and do it your way, or do something, but don't just, you know, stand back and say this is a U.S. problem. Taqi: Ambassador Young, don't you think that injecting international troops into Iraq would create the conditions that would allow the Iraqis, the military and so on, to topple Saddam Hussein with ease, without the costs that are associated with a war? Young: I would hope so. ... Bookman: How does the situation with North Korea compare to Iraq? How does the Bush national security strategy of pre-emption, regime change, how does that all play together? Young: I kind of have a feeling that this was a desperate attempt [by North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il] to get food and get attention and we were ignoring him, and so he got -- once he gets some attention and some food and some involvement with the South Koreans, then . . . I don't see that as, really, our problem. Bookman: So you're optimistic about a resolution there? Young: [Asserts that the solution in Iraq is likely different from the solution in North Korea.] I don't think you have to be all that morally consistent. You have to do what's in your best interest. Kelly: It's a bit of the syndrome of the child who says, "I'm going to hold my breath until you do something for me," except they're far more dangerous. ... It may be that Saddam Hussein's removal from power and his regime's downfall will have some sort of salutary impact on Kim Jong-il, who may not know a lot about the rest of the world but may realize that there are better ways to pursue than confrontation. But I think it's better to pursue the diplomatic track with North Korea.