Posted on 02/21/2003 1:41:53 PM PST by Lando Lincoln
Iraq could cost US its leadership: Brzezinski
WASHINGTON: The United States should give UN inspectors more time, link Iraqi disarmament to the Israeli Palestinian conflict and avoid engaging its allies in tit-for-tat polemics, former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote yesterday in The Washington Post. To avoid risking its global leadership the United States should avoid “demeaning and destructive” polemics with its important allies,” wrote Brzezinski, who served in the Carter administration in the 1970’s. How and when to apply force to Iraq, he wrote, “should be part of a larger strategy, sensitive to the risk that the termination of Saddam Hussein’s regime may be purchased at too high a cost to America’s global leadership.” In his op-ed piece, Brzezinski blamed the behavior of US President George W. Bush’s administration for the widespread international opposition to its policy on Iraq. Washington’s initial eagerness to wage war on Iraq on its own, he said, generated suspicion that its subsequent decision to seek UN approval for the use of force “was essentially a charade.” Washington’s definition of its war on terrorism, he added, is seen by many abroad as “excessively theological (‘evildoers who hate freedom’) and unrelated to any political context.” Brzezinski cited the Bush administration’s “reluctance to see a connection between Middle Eastern terrorists and the political problems of the Middle East;” its “unsubstantiated efforts to connect Iraq with Al Qaeda;” and its “evident, if unstated, endorsement ... of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s notions of how to deal with both the Palestinians and the region as a whole.” He also said that the US “preoccupation with Iraq – which does not pose an imminent threat to global security – obscures the need to deal with the more serious and genuinely imminent threat posed by North Korea.” Washington should also “acknowledge that the quest for peace in the Middle East requires both the disarmament of Iraq and the active renewal of the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians.” The United States and its veto-wielding allies on the UN Security Council, Brzezinski said, should “impose on Iraq a bill of particulars, defined as specifically and realistically as possible, perhaps also with staged deadlines (i.e., ultimatums), so that at each major stage it would be easier to reach consensus regarding Security Council certification of Iraqi compliance or defiance.” – AFP
Another mistake was giving Saddam two years warning that the United States was coming after him. Saddam has had two years to prepare his defenses which is not good. This is going to cost plenty of American lives. Broadcasting your intentions is one thing that smart military men avoid.
There has been way too much talk for too long a time with no action. We should be in Iraq a month ago. Part of the problem was Bush having to drag the public along but bluster and repeated threats do not help the boys that have to go in.
I am very skeptical that NK and China will not take advantage of the situation to attack South Korea and Tiawan. I do not have the faith that Red China is our friend or ally in the war on terrorism. Aid and diplomacy makes us look weak in Asia.
North Korea has repeatedly told us that they will attack if we don't give them aid. Blackmail is not a tool of foreign policy, it is encouragement to take a harder line to see if more blackmail can foster more aid.
The book is only half written and you are judging the last chapter when you don't know what it is yet?
He was behind our decision to fund the anti-Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the late 70's. That US policy (which a lot of the left tries to bitch about and to pin on Reagan) was actually a good policy that came from the Carter era.
National Security ... in the Carter Administration ... enough said.
The United States should give UN inspectors more time, link Iraqi disarmament to the Israeli Palestinian conflict and avoid engaging its allies in tit-for-tat polemics, former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote yesterday in The Washington Post... Brzezinski cited the Bush administration's "reluctance to see a connection between Middle Eastern terrorists and the political problems of the Middle East;" its "unsubstantiated efforts to connect Iraq with Al Qaeda;" and its "evident, if unstated, endorsement ... of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's notions of how to deal with both the Palestinians and the region as a whole." He also said that the US "preoccupation with Iraq -- which does not pose an imminent threat to global security -- obscures the need to deal with the more serious and genuinely imminent threat posed by North Korea." Washington should also "acknowledge that the quest for peace in the Middle East requires both the disarmament of Iraq and the active renewal of the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians."
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