My problem with Powell his that he talked Bush 41 out of completing the job in Iraq before we were finished. Had we been allowed to complete the mission, 09-11-01 might not have occurred. We would not be in Iraq now. It was a big mistake to stop Desert Storm. We were on a roll. JMHO.
I get so tired of hearing about who it was talked Pres. George Bush (Sr.) out of finishing off Sadam Hussein in ‘91. I have a very clear memory that is was the Saudis and Europeans who put pressure on Bush to stop the troops from pushing on to Baghdad. The Saudis in particular feared a power vacuum if Sadam was defeated.
It’s just one of those strange things about the ME - they’ll tolerate horrifying tyrants murdering women and children next door, but are scared poo-less over the thought of regular folks getting the opportunity to make their own political descisions. I guess they’re afraid if their own people see it working so well next door, they’ll kick all the lazy money-grubbing royals out and run things themselves!
Yep, we could have gotten rid of Saddam once and for all in 1991 and had an Army more than big enough to garrison the country, thereby saving us from the last 8 years.
I am not sure that it was not the other way around. Bush 41 was following the DAMN UN mandate which called for putting Saddam back in his box, not his removal.
Yes, the first Gulf War was botched. General Schwarzkopf wanted to continue into Bagdad and take it, but he was prevented from doing so. I remember hearing him say it in an interview back then, but he was quickly silenced and never spoke of it again to my knowledge. Big mistake.
Disagree on both counts. The US did not have a coalition of support to go to Baghdad’; not Powell’s fault.
And connecting that to Al Qaeda’s plans is even more shaky. It may have accelerated their agenda, not eliminated it.
It's true, What we have done in the last five years we could have done then, maybe better. But 41 had this notion of the New World Order in which the US would be just one more in the happy company of nations, playing well together and strolling peacefully into a millenial future.