Fred Barnes: The Tempting of the President

The Weekly Standard ^ | 04/21/03 | Fred Barnes, for the editors

[Pokey78]

Ping for the FredHeads.

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[EternalVigilance]

Fred Barnes nails it!

These are the exact dangers I have been warning against...I couldn't agree more.

[exit82]

Fred does a terrific job here of listing the wrong headed advice that the President needs to steer clear of. The chorus from the Left is already resounding about the costs,the timetable for withdrawal, etc.

One significant advantage we have gained is a forward military base for taking out any other problem countries in the Mideast--i.e. Syria,Lebanon,Saudi Arabia, Iran--although I think Iran will change from within,especially with the freedom witnessed next door in Iraq.We shouldn't leave hard won gains anytime soon.


One uncomfortable fact--the Saudi royal family has to go, and sooner, not later. They are not our friends. We made them, and we can break them. And it is time they got broke.

[Russell Scott]

Fred is a good, clear thinking Christian man.

[bonesmccoy]

ON TARGET!

[Bonaparte]

"...is a forward military base..."

That would be sweet, especially since we would no longer get tripped up by the fickle Turks. But we can only do this with the explicit consent of the Iraqi people, which could pose a problem.

[McGavin999]

If Fred sees this, and we see this, I guarantee you that our president sees it as well.

I've learned to trust his judgement. Make no mistake, france is going to pay for what it has done but expect it to be in a strange and very satisfying way. Germany should be on the lookout as well.

[uncbob]

And now that Saddam is history Kuwait my have second thoughts about US presence

[lainde]

fred ping!

[Sokol]

Excellent!

[Oldeconomybuyer]

...to repair damaged alliances, and to win respect--and perhaps a Nobel Peace Prize--for himself...

Fred Barnes is using "inside the beltway" thinking. This president could care less about a Nobel Peace Prize. In fact, I'm not sure he would accept if offered.

[exit82]

Good point. I think we may be witnessing a shift in where our military assets are placed--i.e. the shifting of bases from Germany to Poland, a base of force in Iraq/Kuwait/Qatar, less of a dependence on Turkish air bases,etc..

What we are missing though,IMHO, is the threat developing in our own hemisphere. I don't worry about Canada, but I am concerned about Mexico,Cuba, Venezuela, and Brazil. Chavez and Castro are still threats to us, and they are destabilizing the region. Fox is not our friend.

The world geopolitical landscape is rapidly changing. We truly live in interesting times.

[ladyinred]

President Bush has the courage of his convictions and hopefully will not bow to pressure from anyone to sway from the course. My money is on him.

[Sabertooth]

Lean on Israel. This may be the hardest temptation for Bush to resist. He'll be inclined to aid Blair, his friend and staunch ally, who wants to assuage the Labour party left by forging ahead with the "road map" for a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. But not only is the road map flawed, the time is not ripe for reaching agreement.

Pursuit of the illusory "road map" with the fictitious "palestinians" would eventually negate most of the good that will be accomplished in the War on Terror. Any "palestinian "road map would flat-out reward terror.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

We truly live in interesting times.

T'is always true. It is just apparent while happening at some times more than others.

[John Lenin]

Maybe the Turks will do us a favor and go to war with the Kurds in Northern Iraq ...

[Nick Danger]

we can only do this with the explicit consent of the Iraqi people, which could pose a problem.

There will certainly be Mullahs and others clamoring to get the Americans out, but Iraq is in a very vulnerable position right now, and their clearer heads will understand that.

In the course of removing Saddam, we basically smoked their entire military establishment. They have -- what -- twelve tanks left? What would they do if we left, and the next week Iran came in and occupied the oil fields in the South, and Turkey invaded from the North and took the ones up there? Those are not low-probability scenarios. Both of those countries were circling like vultures, hoping for some easy road kill before we even took Baghdad.

We are going to have to help their new government raise and equip enough of an army to at least maintain their territorial integrity. Right now they are sitting ducks.

[hchutch]

So, it looks like a couple of armored divisions will be there for a few years until we spin their army up just right.

No problem with me. Heck, we may just decide to clean out the Syrians and Iranians in the process.