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

To: one_less who wrote (144998)	9/7/2004 1:25:22 PM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

The idea that a cabal of Neocons suddenly highjacked the Bush Administration to manufacture a war with Iraq is nonsense. In reality, we had dithered around with Iraq for over a decade, and the intelligence was alarming enough as early as the Clinton Administration for that administration to make regime change a matter of national policy. Pressure to end sanctions was building, due to Saddam's abuse of the humanitarian sales exemption. Meanwhile, the least that can be said is that Saddam failed to account for all stockpiles, and that we caught him actively pursuing an upgrade in missile trajectories. After that, we do not know what happened to the alleged stockpiles, whether they ended up in Syria, or were destroyed, or whether the intelligence was bogus. We do know, however, that he was fully prepared to resume production at any time. We also know that he had contacts with Al- Qaeda, although the precise nature of the ties is still in dispute. We know that he had ties to Hamas, and provided financial compensation to the families of suicide bombers. We know that he had begun leaning more heavily on Muslim sentiment in the last few years, rather than highlighting the secularism of the Ba'athists. We know that he had hegemoniacal aims in the Middle East, and that he ultimately hoped to spearhead an Arab ascendancy that would lead to Arabs becoming the paramount "race" in the world. Granted he was not likely to succeed in such aims, he could cause an awful lot of havoc trying. Therefore, a comprehensive solution to the Middle East, including the problem of terrorism, involved ridding the region of Saddam. We overthrew him with textbook efficiency, but were not prepared for the recalcitrant factions arising against us, at least, not in such force. Right now, it is doubt about the political viability of the Bush Administration that is fueling continued tension in Iraq. Once it is clear that it is futile to hope for a favorable outcome, most of the tension will die down. We should have been able to have made it clear that no matter who won the election, cut and run was not an option, but, despite protests that he does not mean to cut and run, that is what Kerry is expected to do.