Binary_Digit said:
Firstly, the new Iraqi government has not asked for an exit timetable. I used to think the same thing, but someone in Debate Politics corrected me just a few days ago. That request was made by only a single member of the new government, and does not constitute the government's full capacity decision.
Secondly, after the 1991 Gulf War, thousands of Iraqis were slaughtered in an uprising while trying to gain control of the government for themselves. We do not want a repeat occurance of this. So we want to make damn sure the new Iraqi government is stable enough on its own, and legitimate enough in the eyes of the Iraqi people, before we withdraw forces.
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/Iraq926.htm
Thirdly, be careful to distinguish between the pre-war reasons and the post-war reasons. You see, a number of the pre-war reasons didn't exactly turn up, and the administration has admitted that much of that intelligence was wrong. So in order to look on the bright side, we're often reminded by the administration of the post-war reasons - another Middle East democracy, better infrastructure, democratic elections, brighter future, etc. None of these were the main justification war, or else we would be justifying war in about 60% of the world. No, it took an "iminent threat" of WMD attacks and nightmares of mushroom clouds for the President to gain enough support in America to invade Iraq.
That's pretty damn close BD!...You're starting to catch on!...:2wave:
Here's my spin on it that bears repeating from a previous thread...
I think the UN was under the assumption that sanctions
would be imposed, the inspectors would come in and
monitor the destruction of chemical & biological weapons
that he already had, and then the sanctions would be lifted.
But Saddam threw in the monkey wrench...He STOPPED the
inspections and kicked the inspectors out. The UN sanctions
didn't have the intent they thought it would, but the UN would
look incredibly stupid if they lifted them after Saddam
removed the inspectors, so to save face, they left the sanctions on.
Now Saddam knew the UN buckled...the ball was in his court...
He'll get the sympathy vote from the Arab nations that the big,
bad UN had killed the little children. Not that he really cared.
So the UN went for Round 2...Inspection time again!
First, the UN would put on that "determined" look and ratify
Resolution 1441, which says, "Saddam's been screwing up; if he
continues to screw up, we might do something extreme." Saddam must've
hurt his abdomen laughing at that one...The only thing they've done
in ten years was put on sanctions, which he was getting around anyway...
What were they going to do next? Put up a billboard saying, "Saddam's
not a very good person"?
This time, Saddam said he would allow inspectors as long as the head
of the inspection team was not American...Guess what?...The UN said "OK"!
Since when was any of the UN demands negotiable?...The UN, as the world
speaking with one voice, should've said "NO...YOU do things OUR way...
not the other way around." The Buckle Boys are VERY consistent...
Meanwhile, the US said, you know what?...These sanctions aren't hurting
the regime...they're hurting the people...and if the UN is stupid enough
to keep this 3-card monte game up, we're gonna have to do this ourselves.
But Bush knew the American people are fickle. If he told them that he
was going into Iraq to free the people and get the sanctions off of
the people's back, the Americans would've yawned and said, "Keep it
down...I'm watching Sex & the City."
So he used data from the previous administration that was outdated and
incomplete recent data and stirred up the troops with the "threat" angle.
It was a complete roll of the dice, and, as we've learned, came up craps.
It probably would've shocked him if WMDs were actually found, but by this time,
he had what he wanted...An open window to get rid of a bad guy and to plant
the seeds of Democracy. Just like childbirth, he knew it was going to be
painful, both in military and political policies, but he knows that,
long term, the world will be better off for it...Let the critics bitch & moan...
Hell, Abe Lincoln was elected President for a second term with only 39% of
the vote! Nine states had ZERO votes for him! And I don't think Abe get
crapped on for what he did, does he? Bush is following the same form...
Hate him now...hate him all you want...but in about 20, 30, or even
50 years from now, when most, if not all, of the dictatorships in the Middle
East are gone and Democracy rules the roost...look back to April, 2003...
Watch the Saddam statue coming down...then you'll know why this was all started.
insert picture of waving flag with a Sousa march in the background...