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Politics : Did Slick Boink Monica? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Glenn D. Rudolph who wrote (7465)	2/18/1998 1:54:00 AM
From: Michael Sphar	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 20981

A few serious thoughts about the making of a war: President Clinton, yes the same dope smoking, draft dodging, skirt chasing William Jefferson Clinton that couldn't or wouldn't face the insanity of the Vietnam peace keeping Police Action era is now calling for his fellow Americans to gird their loins for war with Iraq. I don't buy into this. I hear the argument that Iraq under Sadam Hussein may have some weapons of mass destruction. So be it. So do a lot of countries. Didn't the UN inspectors spend 7 years (thats 84 months or 2600 days) looking for these things ? Isn't Iraq about the size of the state of Nevada ? What the hell were those boys doing over there all that time ? Don't we have sophisticated spying eyes in the sky overflying that territory daily ? Can't that equipment see newspaper print in the total dark from 7 miles up or higher ? Did they somehow not see these "40,000 weapons, miss finding these 100,000 gallons, etc." How come we are the only country chomping at the bit over this threat ? I don't count the Brits cuz those boys are always spoiling for a good fight, maybe its that warm red pilsner they drink. Where's the fear and paranoia in the Middle East ? What about Iran, what about Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait or Turkey or even Israel none of these voices have been raised, at least not publicly. Hey how about the peace loving peoples of Japan ? What about it Hiroshima-ites, and you Nagasaki folks ? Where's the outrage ? Something doesn't add up. What about NATO, what about the UN ? Where are the votes ? This UPI report claims 48 missiles. Are these those same silly SCUD things ? Those were dangerous mostly in their lack of guidance control. Their range is regional not intercontinental. Where is the threat I don't see it, yet. And yet we are being bombarded by a nightly beating of the war drums. I don't buy it. We may not be doing the right thing. Klauswitz tells us that war is an exercise of political might by other means. Fine. Have we truly expended every effort of political suasion such that the whole bloody world is begging for Americans to lead the cavalry charge once again ? I don't buy it. Sun-Tsu tells us that if we are to fight we should do it from a position of strength and catch our enemies sleeping. We know we've already failed on that score. The last time we faced Iraq, the Pentagon spent 6 months building a massive war-making capability all over the region. They were flying in munitions and equipment to all sorts of airfields. The allied nations were lined up, yet no one thought we were going to war, the world was surprised. The Navy was on large scale maneuvers and supported big time out of Diego Garcia with the Navy and the Air Force backing up that port. Our supply lines were awesome. Our allies were committed. This time its different, why ? What if something goes wrong ? Are we really prepared ? What if there is significant loss of American life ? What if we lose one of those carriers ? Think about it. Now's the time to protest, to debate, to question. Tomorrow, next week, the week after may be too late. What if something horrible happens to Saudi Arabia because of our actions, or Israel. If the Israelis enter the fray, there will be religious polarization. It could become quite ugly then. Do we go with our Israeli interests ? Do we go with our oil interests ? This is seriously under thought-out. I object, I strenuously object. This Commander-In-Chief has not done the full homework on this and this is not some mere lawyerly exercise, we are talking about something truly horrorific no matter how sanitized the news media makes it. The public is not prepared. The weapons and personnel of war are not prepared. The world is not prepared. France and Russia oppose it already. Who else will not support the US in this ? I don't object to war-making on principle. Just this war, this time, this haphazard crusade, something doesn't add up. Respectfully, Michael J. Sphar, Major, USAFR, Ret.