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

To: Bilow who wrote (85566)	3/24/2003 5:20:33 AM
From: Steeny	Respond to of 281500

Bilow, I think you make valid points. I think we both hope you are wrong. I speculate that the vast majority of Iraqis would prefer to be rid of Saddam. I see the vast majority of Baghdadites as complacent-just get through the daily rituals of day to day life. They will not rise against anyone-Saddam or us. Outside of Baathist controlled areas, I think you will see other locals rise against Saddam. Give this a bit of time. In a few months, let us see where things stand. Once the Baathist leadership has been destroyed, this will be a very different kind of war. In Vietnam, there was a populace fighting for a something, not just against something. This is a very different war, We were there for 10+ yrs. Far too early to compare with 5 days in Iraq.

To: Bilow who wrote (85566)	3/24/2003 5:43:30 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 281500

WHY WE ARE IN IRAQ -- AND WHO'S NEXT? Sat Mar 22, 10:11 PM ET Op/Ed - BY Richard Reeves* story.news.yahoo.com <<...WASHINGTON -- "We're next! The Americans will come after us next!" is what Muslim leaders are telling their followers in Pakistan since U.S. troops moved into Iraq. That is from Hussein Haqqani, a Pakistani writer and sometimes politician, speaking last Thursday to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. No doubt many Pakistanis, particularly fundamental Islamists, believe that, and will act accordingly, living in fear and defiance of American action. But it is almost certainly not true. Pakistan is in American sights now as real estate, for better or worse: a useful place for military bases or operations, or a hiding and regrouping place for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida terrorism. (Actually, the real danger the United States poses for Pakistan is ideological and longer term. President Bush's doctrine of pre-emptive war against countries that may become threats in the future could easily be adopted by Pakistan's traditional enemy, India, to strike Pakistani bases and nuclear installations. That might happen there and in many other parts of the world in years to come if regional powers emulate the superpower.) Pakistan is safe -- at least as long as its army contains its fundamentalists -- because there is apparently nothing under its deserts and rocks but more rocks. This war, which will almost certainly go beyond Iraq, is about oil. It is not only about oil, but we would not be there if the oil was not. This endeavor is not about the abstractions and ideals of freedom and democracy. And terrorism is only part of it, too. If bin Laden's psychopathic rage was triggered by U.S. soldiers in Saudi Arabia, it is worth mention that no Americans would be there if it were not for oil under that sand. For anyone interested, the story of America and that oil is well told in the current issue of Mother Jones magazine by Robert Dreyfuss, a talented liberal journalist. He traces this war back to the energy crisis of the early 1970s, when lines at gas stations dramatized American dependence on Middle Eastern oil. In his version, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and a group of younger foreign policy strategists concluded that the global interests and security of the United States depended on gaining control of that faraway oil...>> cont. at: story.news.yahoo.com *RICHARD REEVES is the author of 12 books, including President Nixon: Alone in the White House. He has written for the New York Times, the New Yorker, Esquire and dozens of other publications. E-mail him at rr@richardreeves.com.