Gar, really, you're so very reasonable and logical that you've fallen into the trap of believing everybody thinks like you do! Saddam and his cronies have no interest in the Iraqi people. They don't want to save them, they just want to rule over them. If they lose a million or so during this war, that's fine with them.
Any withdrawal Saddam will see as a victory. That's all there is to it. Hell, he managed to spin GW I as a victory to his people! Betrayed a second time, the Iraqi opposition will wither, as well as many democratic movements across the region who will be stunned that three of the most advanced democracies in the world folded so quickly and shamefully. Exactly what incentive will he have to even let the inspectors into the country again, let alone let them do their work properly? He'll merrily shuffle around the missiles and chem weapons (and won't those be easy to build with the sanctions gone and stuff pouring in from hundreds of miles of borders) and rope-a-dope them at the best, actively repel them at the worst. And when he hurts one of them, what will the team do? Ask for military guard? From the same countries who were within an hour's drive of Baghdad and then threw up their hands and went home?
He'll merrily shuffle around the missiles and chem weapons
These would be the weapons of mass destruction that haven't been found yet and haven't been used yet?
These would be the weapons of mass destruction that haven't been found yet and haven't been used yet?
moonlit ... no, those would be the missles that apparently everyone but the US, saw being destroyed right before Fuckface Dubya launched his attack.
Scott Hope is gay and now on
Queer as Folk
!!
How cute is that? :)
thanks Jimi I was obviously confused.
I have just watched an interview with someone who's name I didn't catch but who was a spokesperson for the humanitarian side who was being asked about the US/coalition stated aim of having the wealth of the Iraqi oilfields used for the rebuilding of Iraq etc.
He pointed out that Iraq is already in debt to the international community to the tune of $130 billion and is still under compensatory debt of $44 billion for the last Gulf War, both debts the US has already said will be paid off as soon as they are in control of the oil revenue.
Fair enough. However he then went on to say that the US govt is illegally (?) demanding all Iraqi money that is held in banks around the world and that this money is part of what has already been earmarked for the contracted US corporations to rebuild and clean up Iraq.
I hadn't heard that last part. I'll put up a link when it becomes available, the program puts its transcripts up on the website a few hours after the show goes to air.
Any withdrawal Saddam will see as a victory. That's all there is to it. Hell, he managed to spin GW I as a victory to his people!
There. Despite my loathing for this war, that's my sticking point, right there, I guess.
moonlit ... no, those would be the missles that apparently everyone but the US, saw being destroyed right before Fuckface Dubya launched his attack.
Which ones are hitting Kuwait?
Which ones are hitting Kuwait?
Probably the half-dozen they didn't get time to dismantle.
Scott Hope is gay and now on Queer as Folk !!
Oh,
that's
where I've seen that guy before. Obnoxious violinist (aren't they all), right?
ar, really, you're so very reasonable and logical that you've fallen into the trap of believing everybody thinks like you do!
Interesting; so I've gone from being "smug and stupid" to excessively "reasonable and logical". I don't ask that you change your mind on anything; obviously you hold your opinions because you believe they are right. Can you do the same to others? Can you just assume they are wrong, without speculating on what personality flaw leads to that particular error? People come to a wrong conclusions in all aspects of life; sometimes these do not arise from any particular aspect of their character, but simply from making a mistake.
And Cindy, Saddam may have claimed Gulf War I as a victory. (Actually it was about Gulf War III for him; it was simply the first in which the U.S. was not an ally.) No one in Iraq believed him; they supported him for the same reason Russians in the old Soviet Union supported Stalin in WWII - they were under attack from a deadly enemy. "Sanctions" are too mild a word for what we imposed; Iraq was under siege; in spite of allowing food in, basic neccesiities of life were denied, supported by bombings which kept them from being rebuilt. If we withdrew now, there would some rallying to Saddam. There is a natural tendency to rally to your leader in the case of an attack. But is is also short term; it ends when the emergency ends, and Saddam is deeply, deeply hated. Some of things he is doing in Basra are not making him more deeply loved. Don't just end the invasion; end the siege warfare, and he won't last.
Guarantees - none. But we have no guarantees once we become an occupying army either. My strategic judgement is that risks of peace, even now, are better than the risks of war. And I can't help but feel that fighting a war, without overwhelming evidence that continuing it will lead to better results than stopping it, is still wrong.
