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

To: JohnM who wrote (80598)	3/8/2003 11:45:09 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 281500

Friedman feels that without a large international effort, and a commitment on the part of the US public for a long duration stay, we shouldn't go in...because there is no chance for success. Sure we'll win the battle of ousting Saddam, but we'll lose the war of transforming Iraq...IMO, Bush has NOT made a strong case for going to war now...He has NOT articulated the costs and risks of what we may be doing over in Iraq...He should go back to Congress if he is so convinced that we MUST act now (with or without The U.N. backing)...It would be fascinating to see Congress debate an authorization to 'pre-emptively strike' Iraq and engineer regime change...We never really got a debate last fall because of the elections...If Bush is so confident in his case for war then he should have the courage to go back to Congress for authorization BEFORE he makes a move to go to war...It's the right thing to do. regards, -s2 btw, thnx for posting the Op-Ed by President Carter -- I agree with him 100%...MOST AMERICANS do not want to invade Iraq without United Nations support...Most folks I talk with feel this country is becoming an arrogant bully and worry about the decisions our leaders may be making...The United States prestige and credibility are on the line here.

To: JohnM who wrote (80598)	3/9/2003 2:17:19 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 281500

Columbia's Edward Said has an interesting column... Who is in Charge? A Tiny, Unelected Group, Supported by Powerful, Unrepresentative Minorities by Edward Said* Published on Saturday, March 8, 2003 by the Al-Ahram Weekly commondreams.org <<...The Bush administration's relentless unilateral march towards war is profoundly disturbing for many reasons, but so far as American citizens are concerned the whole grotesque show is a tremendous failure in democracy. An immensely wealthy and powerful republic has been hijacked by a small cabal of individuals, all of them unelected and therefore unresponsive to public pressure, and simply turned on its head. It is no exaggeration to say that this war is the most unpopular in modern history. Before the war has begun there have been more people protesting it in this country alone than was the case at the height of the anti- Vietnam war demonstrations during the 60s and 70s. Note also that those rallies took place after the war had been going on for several years: this one has yet to begin, even though a large number of overtly aggressive and belligerent steps have already been taken by the US and its loyal puppy, the UK government of the increasingly ridiculous Tony Blair...>> *Edward Said is professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, New York. His books include Orientalism and Covering Islam. His latest work, Parallels and Paradoxes, cowritten with Daniel Barenboim, will be published by Bloomsbury in March. E-Mail:sf38@columbia.edu

To: JohnM who wrote (80598)	3/9/2003 8:06:32 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 281500

Some folks may wonder why I am concerned that we may be rushing into an 'elective war'...I know 2 sons of close family friends who are now over in Kuwait...they are the age of my younger brother -- both have wives and one has a young child...They are highly trained and in the marines and the Rangers. Yet, we know Saddam will be most dangerous when we push his back up against the wall. This is exactly what we're doing...I still don't think Bush has effectively made A STRONG CASE FOR WHY ITS NECESSARY TO GO TO WAR NOW...There is no imminent threat from Iraq...It's not just about disarmament its about a NeoCONservative agenda to remake a Middle Eastern country and establish a democratic beach head over in Iraq. After listening to the excellent Tim Russert interview with Tom Friedman last night I realize that most Americans DON'T understand what Bush may be getting us into...We have had less debate in our Congress than they've had in Turkey...Why hasn't the President really made his case, done town hall meetings across the country, gone back to Congress for an authorization to go to war, etc...All that is elective BUT I feel that's the responsible thing to do if you're asking our country to sacrifice our troops and over one hundred billion of our tax dollars on a very risky military adventure in The Middle East. I was totally in support of Gulf War 1...Did you notice how Bush's father spent well over 6 months gaining strong support from the country, from the U.N., from all our Allies, etc...That paid off big time. There is not enough support for this war and I fear that this president is not being thoughtful and open-minded....The other night on CNBC's Hardball I heard an interview with the authors of the new best selling book called 'Bush's Brain' -- they have studied Karl Rove extensively...Rove's the one who first got Bush into politics in Texas...the authors of this new book feel that this rush to war now is partially driven by politics and unfortunately I agree. It should never be that way when we are asking our young men and women in uniform to sacrifice for our country...They should only be deployed to fight as a last resort when there is a significant national security threat that can NOT be addressed another way....I'm totally in support of our troops BUT I do not trust our leaders in this Administration. I have an uncle who was a VietNam war hero and he has come to the same conclusion....He called me the other night and said he's convinced "the White House is lying its way into a war that we'll all regret for years to come." I pray that The U.N. Security Council and our President will find a way to disarm Saddam and avoid a dangerous and unnecessary war. regards, -s2 btw, I didn't even mention my concern about what 'a pre-emptive war' in Iraq might do to our fragile economy or our nation's credibility around the world...And then there's all the innocent Iraqis who may be killed...There has got to be a better way to deal with Saddam.