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nockergeekThe US has given up on the United Nations. Bush is going to speak to the nation tonight regarding the all-but-started war against Iraq. The news channels are reporting a 72-hour deadline for Saddam to leave the country if he wants to avoid war.
My question is, when did Saddam Hussein become a weapon of mass destruction? This was supposed to be about disarmament, right? That's what we've been told for the last six months. Of course, we've known for over a year that the Bush administration has been gunning for Hussein, ever since that stupid "Axis of Evil" statement. You know, the one that's sent North Korea into a nuclear tizzy because they think they're next?
I'm of two minds about the whole war issue. On one hand, Saddam Hussein is an evil dictatorial asshole; there's no denying that. Something does need to be done about him. The UN does need to be willing to back up its resolutions with military enforcement.
On the other hand, burning our diplomatic bridges behind us is just fucking stupid. We are alternately pissing off and scaring the shit out of the rest of the world with our go-it-alone-preemptive-strike Bush Doctrine. The administration tries and tries to establish these extremely tenuous ties between Iraq and terrorists, but no one's buying it. We're also not remembering that, like nature, politics abhors a vacuum - rebuilding Iraq after Saddam is ousted (if he is) is going to be a long-term process. We can't just do a six-month Shake-'n'-Bake country like we did with Afghanistan -- which is another country which needs more of our support.
And personally, I'm much more concerned about North Korea than Iraq. We're talking about a country that may have a couple of nukes already, is working on more, has a 1-million-strong standing army, a decent ballistic missile program, and a grudge that goes back 50 years -- they still think they're at war with us, since South Korea never signed the treaty that would have ended the Korean War. Add in the fact that they are desperate for financial, energy, and food aid, and I think that we've got a powder-keg situation that needs much more attention than Iraq's little dictator.
And if we're talking about Iraq being in violation of UN resolutions, we should in all fairness go after Israel next, since they're violating even more UN resolutions going back to 1967 and that whole "Six Day War" affair where they took Gaza and the West Bank. We need to be equal opportunity enforcers. Of course, I know that won't happen.
In the end, I'm resigned to the war happening. I just think it's being done the wrong way for not quite all the right reasons.
My question is, when did Saddam Hussein become a weapon of mass destruction? This was supposed to be about disarmament, right? That's what we've been told for the last six months. Of course, we've known for over a year that the Bush administration has been gunning for Hussein, ever since that stupid "Axis of Evil" statement. You know, the one that's sent North Korea into a nuclear tizzy because they think they're next?
I'm of two minds about the whole war issue. On one hand, Saddam Hussein is an evil dictatorial asshole; there's no denying that. Something does need to be done about him. The UN does need to be willing to back up its resolutions with military enforcement.
On the other hand, burning our diplomatic bridges behind us is just fucking stupid. We are alternately pissing off and scaring the shit out of the rest of the world with our go-it-alone-preemptive-strike Bush Doctrine. The administration tries and tries to establish these extremely tenuous ties between Iraq and terrorists, but no one's buying it. We're also not remembering that, like nature, politics abhors a vacuum - rebuilding Iraq after Saddam is ousted (if he is) is going to be a long-term process. We can't just do a six-month Shake-'n'-Bake country like we did with Afghanistan -- which is another country which needs more of our support.
And personally, I'm much more concerned about North Korea than Iraq. We're talking about a country that may have a couple of nukes already, is working on more, has a 1-million-strong standing army, a decent ballistic missile program, and a grudge that goes back 50 years -- they still think they're at war with us, since South Korea never signed the treaty that would have ended the Korean War. Add in the fact that they are desperate for financial, energy, and food aid, and I think that we've got a powder-keg situation that needs much more attention than Iraq's little dictator.
And if we're talking about Iraq being in violation of UN resolutions, we should in all fairness go after Israel next, since they're violating even more UN resolutions going back to 1967 and that whole "Six Day War" affair where they took Gaza and the West Bank. We need to be equal opportunity enforcers. Of course, I know that won't happen.
In the end, I'm resigned to the war happening. I just think it's being done the wrong way for not quite all the right reasons.
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no subject
on 2003-03-17 02:35 pm (UTC)We're all doomed.