quote:Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz undertook a full-fledged lobbying campaign in 1998 to get former President Bill Clinton to start a war with Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein�s regime claiming that the country posed a threat to the United States, according to documents obtained from a former Clinton aide.
This new information begs the question: what is really driving the Bush Administration�s desire to start a war with Iraq if two of Bush�s future top defense officials were already planting the seeds for an attack five years ago?
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
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Cartman
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"a new strategy that would secure the interests of the U.S."
"to take the necessary steps, including military steps, to protect our vital interests in the Gulf"
"establish and maintain a strong U.S. military presence in the region, and be prepared to use that force to protect our vital interests in the Gulf"
"a significant portion of the world�s supply of oil will all be put at hazard"
Are we going to keep up this little charade, or shall we stop beating around the bush once and for all?
Registered: Nov 1999
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Well, given the mutually-incompatible viewpoints held by the pro-war hawks among us: that a) The Iraqi people are being oppressed by Saddam Hussein and need to be rescued; and, b) The Iraqi people could easily get rid of Saddam Hussein if they really wanted to, therefore they're at best lazy and at worst as bad as him, so it doesn't matter how many civilian deaths occur in the invasion. . . I really don't know anymore.
posted
b) The Iraqi people could easily get rid of Saddam Hussein if they really wanted to, therefore they're at best lazy and at worst as bad as him, so it doesn't matter how many civilian deaths occur in the invasion
Somebody here's said this?
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
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Actually, since we failed to support the attempted uprisings against Hussein after the Gulf War, we sort of owe a huge debt to the survivors of that screw-up.
You know, I ADMIT the US did a bad thing by initially supporting Hussein, even if he WAS the enemy of a bigger enemy, Fundie-wacko Iran.
But given that virtually everyone agrees that the US is at least partially at fault for the existance of Hussein...
Why such an objection to the idea of us cleaning up our mess?
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
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posted
Seems to me that we have several messes around the world to clean up then.
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
No doubt. So do a lot of folk. The UK, for instance, can take the blame for a great deal of the Middle East situation, China and Russia for North Korea, France for Ivory Coast, etc...
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
You had a better answer when you just had no doubt.
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Still, this "we have to clean up our mess" theory of the war, it keeps changing all the time, leans toward an answer of no to the question of the thread.
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
Registered: Mar 1999
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
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"You know, I ADMIT the US did a bad thing by initially supporting Hussein, even if he WAS the enemy of a bigger enemy, Fundie-wacko Iran."
Said fundie-wackos having been brought to power by the United States, of course.
-------------------- ".mirrorS arE morE fuN thaN televisioN" - TEH PNIK FLAMIGNO
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
Yep, it's a bad chain. The USSR, which we allied with against the greater threat of the Nazis, expanded into Eastern Europe and elsewhere. Fundies came into power in Iran because we supported the Shah vs. the USSR because the USSR was a greater threat, then we supported Hussein against the Fundies, because they were the greater threat.
That's the danger of containment and proxy wars.
And I don't see anything anywhere that says wars have to be fought over Just One Issue. Many wars aren't The American Civil War wasn't, although slavery was perhaps the overriding issue. World War I and II weren't, although they both had their hot-buttons.
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
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posted
Fine, then I'll make my cat an issue. She has the same relevance to King George's War as terrorism.
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
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...The point is, many of the links in that chain weren't on the Bad Countries� list before the US started meddling in their affairs.
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
Which still doesn't mean we shouldn't clean up after ourselves.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
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