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

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (82766)	3/16/2003 6:24:33 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

By and large the issue has been the methods and not the goal. So I don't think your point is valid in this case.

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (82766)	3/16/2003 7:00:08 PM
From: Mike M	Respond to of 281500

Roger that Nadine. I don't know if you read Ellen Goodman's piece suggesting that we have lost the European "good will" that 911 brought us and that we should wait for Saddam to destroy his weapons as Blix encounters them... ********************************** (My response to Ellen Goodman's article (title "War may not accomplish what we want"): Ellen, Let's see if I understand this. We have squandered the good will of the French et al because in the process of responding to an unprovoked war, we singled out one of our enemies for prosecution. What exactly did we lose, Ellen, besides the prospect that the French will again deliver flowers to our embassy? The French and Russians have been circumventing the UN resolutions for years while secretly doing business with Iraq yet we are the bad guys because we became fed up with a regime that flaunted the UN's lack of resolve and we decided to do something about it... Now you are telling me that we should care that the "old world" is developing a case of "anti-americanitis". Please, pass the Kleenex. As a 24 year veteran who was in one of our country's major conflicts, I appreciate the ugliness of war as few can. I fear its uncertainty. How many of our precious soldiers will die? I agonize over how many moms will lose their children, Iraqi moms and American moms. But, I also agonize over how many Iraqi moms have already lost their children...how many Iraqi children have already lost their fathers....how many Iraqi women have been raped and tortured....how many Kurds have been gassed. I agonize over how many Americans have died because commercial airlines were blown from the sky, because embassies, ships and barracks were blown up, and because passenger airplanes were converted into "cruise missiles" to decimate the heart of our nation's financial center. We gave our President the job to lead this country two years ago. Like a marriage, we committed our loyalty, if he would remain faithful to his duties. His job became a nightmare when despicable people committed heinous crimes on 911 and promised even greater atrocities to come. The American people looked to Mr Bush and asked him to avenge our loss and to take steps to help avoid this kind of disaster in the future. Our President has used his great resources; the CIA, the FBI, the military. He has tapped our think tanks and our extensive surveillance equipment. After significant deliberation he concluded that there was linkage between the terrorists and Iraq. Then, instead of simply beginning the process of destruction, instead of declaring a righteous war on Iraq...he announced to his own country and to the world community that there were rogue nations, an axis of evil, who aid and abet the jackals who would indiscriminantly kill us. He told us that there were countries with leaders who wouldn't play by international rules but would instead arm themselves to the teeth and threaten their neighbors. The Republicans and Democrats said "hold on a minute. Show us the proof". Bush did. Support in the Halls of Congress was overwhelming. French, Russians, Chinese and Germans cried foul. Still Powell was able to pass a unanimous resolution through the Security Council. Iraq will disarm their weapons of mass destruction, or else....Iraq prepares a flagrant document of half truths and out and out lies which every country knows is false and only a handful of countries are outraged. Blix begins a "scavenger hunt". "Give Blix time to find what Saddam is hiding". The civil world community insists. "Why"? our President asks. "This wasn't supposed to be 'hide and seek'. It was supposed to be 'to tell the truth' ". "Yes, but...you can't just remove a sovereign dictator from power." "Why not? Not only is he a cruel tyrant and mass murderer of his own people, but he flaunts the rules of the world community by allowing terrorist training camps within his borders, harbored one of the most notorious terrorists in his capital city, and continues to build WMD's despite UN sanctions to the contrary." "It isn't moral." "Is it moral to stand by and watch a megalomaniac torture his own people. Is it moral to watch him build weapons that most of the world has banned and in the process of destroying. Is it moral to allow him to continue to work on development of nuclear weapons although he has no earthly reason to possess them." "Who are you to decide who can have WMDs?" "We are the country that has risen up against every tyrant since WWI. The country that came to the aid of Europe, not once but twice. The country that came to the aid of South Korea to prevent their being slaughtered by North Korea. We spilled our blood in battles that were only our affair because we would not sit by and allow ruthless men exterminate humanity. We realized that freedom was more than just a word and that other people had every bit as much a right to it as we did." Sure, we can wait until Blix finds more weapons and they are destroyed one by one. We can keep 300,000 soldiers away from their families (some have already been deployed for over 280 days) sitting on their hands while Saddam plays "cat and mouse". We can allow the world community to fester and shout their obscenities at us because of our "bellicose" intent. We can keep our military sequestered and concentrated while terrorist consider how to deliver a severe blow. But, what is the point? Will Saddam ever become a constructive citizen of the world community? Well let's see. We've only given him 12 years. Come on Ellen. The waiting game plays into only one man's hands. Who wants to dance to his fiddle besides those who are willing to sell their souls for the scraps at his table? Sure the squabble is about oil. It is, at least, as far as the French and Russians are concerned. If we wait long enough, the English will be forced to withdraw. Not really their war. Right! As our own protesters become more organized, we will inevitably see our own country's sentiment erode. Moms want their babies back. Employers want their employees back. Wives want their husbands back. Children want their mothers and fathers back.... Congress wants to stop carrying the cost of a standing armada 5,000 miles from our shores. But wait, for what? The President has no doubt that this evil regime must go in order to secure a more stable world. This tyrant cannot remain in power while the downtrodden yearn to be free. Go ahead and argue your case, Ellen. It is your right as an American. But this President has a job to do. So don't be surprised when he does it, despite your protestations.