the wisdom of the father

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-22-2003
the wisdom of the father
6
Fri, 08-06-2004 - 1:22pm
In his memoirs, "A World Transformed," written five years ago, George Bush Sr. wrote the following to explain why he didn't go after Saddam Hussein at the end of the Gulf War.

"Trying to eliminate Saddam...would have incurred incalculable human

and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible.... We

would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq....

There was no viable "exit strategy" we could see, violating another of

our principles. Furthermore, we had been consciously trying to set a

pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world. Going in

and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations'

mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response

to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion

route, the United States coul d conceivably still be an occupying power

in a bitterly hostile land."

If only his son could read.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-08-2003
Fri, 08-06-2004 - 1:45pm
What I want to know: Is how far is the United States supposed to go to support one side or another in an Iraqi civil war?

It amazes me the lengths pro iraqi war go, to defend the biggest American foreign policy blunder of my lifetime.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-05-2003
Fri, 08-06-2004 - 1:51pm
Iraq is slowly moving forward... Saddam has been captured, his sons are no longer a threat. A civilian government of Iraqi's is in charge, elections will happen next year. After WW II many doubted the ability of the US to denazify Germany... yet it was done... much as many liberals predicted thousands of US dead on invading Iraq and were wrong... I guess all we are saying is ... just give peace a chance :-)
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-22-2003
Fri, 08-06-2004 - 1:57pm
Thousands of people would die and they did. Please consider Iraqi civilians too for God sake. In one of the emails I read republicans were more compassionate, how come they keep justifying deaths of civilians as tragedies of war...

Not just liberals, As far as I know Bush Sr. was republican.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-08-2003
Fri, 08-06-2004 - 1:58pm
Iraq is hardly moving forward.

US soliders are subjected to more violence, more danger, much more highly organized resistance than in the first days of the war.

2 phrases come to mind: Mission Accomplished / Bring em on.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-05-2003
Fri, 08-06-2004 - 2:01pm
Liberals were afraid of thousands of American deaths, which didn't happen :-) Wrong then, likely wrong now... Iraq will eventually survive as a federal republic :-)
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-05-2003
Fri, 08-06-2004 - 2:03pm
Iraq has a government made of Iraqi's running it, is developing it's military and police, law, civil service, and is in the process of rebuilding raveged infrastructure. Oil pipelines flow more and more every month, despite occasional setbacks... it's free of a dictator, free of his sons... rule of law rather than rule of tyrant is gradually taking root... that my friend is moving forward :-)