Posted on 02/10/2003 2:08:24 PM PST by rface
I have no doubt that President George W. Bush will launch an attack on Iraq, with or without United Nations Security Council approval. I have no doubt that the United States will win the war, though some Iraqi defectors have said recently that it might not be as easy as American officials think. But we will win.
So letfs look at what the consequences are likely to be:
œ American lives will be lost. Ifve heard some military brass refer to the 146 killed in the first Gulf War as "negligible." I personally donft think the loss of even one American life is negligible. I think the casualties will be much higher. The fact that Iraqi soldiers ran from Kuwait - whose invasion they didnft think much of in the first place - doesnft mean that they will run away from defending their homes, their wives and their children.
œ America will be morally discredited. We will have attacked a country with a population of 20 million that did not attack us. Nobody in the world except politicians in Washington and London - if they - believe that Iraq, so terribly weakened by the Gulf War and the sanctions, is a threat to anybody. How can President Bush keep saying Iraq is a threat to its neighbors, much less the world, when Iraqfs neighbors keep saying, "No, it is not a threat"? Every one of Iraqfs neighbors - Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and, most especially, Israel - is more powerful than Iraq.
œ The Islamic world will be enraged, and thatfs more than 1 billion people. Terrorism directed against the United States will be increased, not decreased. However we see it, the war will be seen as an attack against Islam, as an attempt by the United States to recolonize the Arab world and to establish between ourselves and Israel domination and hegemony.
œ The United States will be tied down in Iraq for a year or more. We should learn from the Israeli experience. They went into Lebanon like a hot knife through butter, but they found that they couldnft stay. We will find out the same thing in Iraq. Even if we install a puppet government, wefll have to prop it up or else it will be overthrown.
œ The war will cost us $100 billion to $200 billion. Bush hasnft budgeted for that expense. The war and its likely effect on oil prices will certainly damage and could wreck our economy. Nobody is going to help us pay for it. The Arabs in the gulf states are already saying to America about Iraq, "You break it, you buy it."
œ The Middle East will be destabilized - to what extent, itfs impossible to predict. Some now-friendly governments could be overthrown. Nearly all will be forced to change their attitude toward the United States to appease their people. The forces of extremism will be greatly strengthened, and the moderates will be greatly weakened and perhaps rendered completely ineffective. Again, we should learn from the Israelis. They have not been able to kill their way to security and peace. Every time they crush an enemy militarily, they generate more and more hatred. The Middle East is not a region where memories are short or where forgiveness has much of a standing. Revenge is deeply imbedded in the culture of that region.
œ Finally, the United States will have served notice on every other country in the world that it will launch a pre-emptive attack against any country it imagines might be a threat, directly or indirectly, in the future. If you want a formula for a dangerous, unstable world, thatfs it. No country in the world will trust us again.
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Former Orlando Sentinel columnist Charley Reese writes for King Features Syndicate.
I remember thinking years ago that it would make sense for the developed countries to suppress all WMD (although it wasn't called that). They haven't, because some of them think they can play the actors off against each other (China, poaaibly Russia), or make money without getting caught or too badly splashed in the back wash (France, Germany).
I'm surprised this author bothered to mention "London" (notice it's not Britain). Generally, they try to make it sound like the U.S. is standing all alone on this. We aren't alone in this by a long shot.
This guy thinks like a kindergartner.
writes like one too.
An American threat against potential dangerous proliferators of WMDs will have only a calming effect.
The policy will be set and the world will be MORE stable!!
And the peaceful nations of the world will rejoice and be thankful again for the United States of America!!
Charley, Charley, Charley. You are an embarassing old fool.
Please STFU.
Ole Charley hates Israel so much he'll link arms in defense of a thug like Hussein.
America will be morally discredited. We will have attacked a country with a population of 20 million that did not attack us.
HUH didnt attack us? Hmmm tried to murder Bush Senior thats not an attack ? Ill bet if saddam went after clinton the lefties would be beating thier chests and turning their ink pens into missles As far as morally discredited weve got enough of lefties in hollywood to keep that montra going without ever firing a shot
The Islamic world will be enraged
Awwww boo freakin hoooo And i guess the american people arent supposed to get enraged over 911 or journalists being murdered not to mention various other murders these Savages have pulled off in the name of their so called loving god?
The United States will be tied down in Iraq for a year or more
Nothing wrong with that as far as i see the iraq peoples may enjoy a bit of freedom as long as were there maybe just maybe they will be able to walk down the street and be free to speak and say what they want without being in fear of their lives or their families lives because they didnt bow down to a false self imposed murdering man named saddam
The war will cost us $100 billion to $200 billion. Bush hasnt budgeted for that expense. The war and its likely effect on oil prices will certainly damage and could wreck our economy. Nobody is going to help us pay for it. The Arabs in the gulf states are already saying to America about Iraq, "You break it, you buy it."
In particular, removing the regime of saddam and helping construct a decent Iraqi society and economy would be a tremendous step toward reducing Saudi leverage. Bringing Iraqi oil fully into world markets would improve energy economics. From a military and strategic perspective, Iraq is more important than Saudi Arabia. And building a representative government in Baghdad would demonstrate that democracy can work in the Arab world. This too would be a useful challenge to the current Saudi regime.
The Middle East will be destabilized Buahahahahaha and i guess its stable now and its been stable since ....when....?
Finally, the United States will have served notice on every other country in the world that it will launch a pre-emptive attack against any country it imagines might be a threat, directly or indirectly, in the future. If you want a formula for a dangerous, unstable world, thats it. No country in the world will trust us again.
Bullsplatter this would only happen if the american people elect another president that enjoys blowing up camels in tents to cover up an impeachment and or extramarital sex
Former Orlando Sentinel columnist Charley Reese writes for King Features Syndicate.
From newspaper to comic strips Hmmmm well i guess we need more comedians?
Just my rant MOVE ALONG PLEASE
Make that credible American threat. When GWB asks people to pray that he would be given wisdom in this whole mess, he is specifically asking that he would be able make sense of the options and outcomes of all of the options.
You can be sure that he is very aware of the negatives involved in both attacking and not attacking. He is showing real courage in facing up to a truth brought home by 9/11: The United States in no longer protected from attack by geography.
Make that dangers and outcomes.
Charley Reese - You Are An Idiot! Your pro=palistinian past shines right through your invisible retirement. May you turn into a Helen thomas clone and have to squat to pee the rest of your natural life.
All the arguments against the US action on Iraq were made 60 years ago, against US action on Germany. Prominent was the one that "Hitler hasn't done anything to us." This was true. Hitler had invaded his neighbors, started a war, begun the round-up of Jews, leading eventually to mass murder. But until the end of 1941, when Germany declared war on the US, it had done nothing directly to us.
We now know that only total defeat could stop Hitler, and that millions of additional lives, including Americans, would be the price of not stopping Hitler early.
As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote for the Supreme Court, "Sometimes a page of history is worth a volume of logic." History tells us that the longer we delay in dealing with a dictator who uses mass murder as a political tactic, the greater the blood price we will pay.
Charlie is wrong on this one. He needs to read a few history books.
Congressman Billybob
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