Posted on 08/04/2002 6:18:07 PM PDT by gcruse
| AMERICA’S National Security Adviser during the Gulf War warned President Bush yesterday that invading Iraq would cause an “explosion” in the Middle East and consign the United States to defeat in its War on Terror. Brent Scowcroft, who remains close to the Bush family, urged the President to concentrate on trying to broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians while separately pursuing terrorist threats to the United States. But he said that by going to war with Iraq without linking President Saddam Hussein and September 11, Washington was risking a conflagration in the Middle East that would also engulf its efforts to defeat global terror groups. His warning came as a former British Chief of Defence Staff said that Britain risked being dragged into a “very, very messy” and lengthy war if it supported a US military assault on Iraq. Field Marshal Lord Bramall called on Tony Blair to exercise caution, saying that an invasion to topple Saddam may not be morally or legally justified. “You don’t have licence to attack someone else’s country just because you don’t like the leadership,” he told BBC Radio 4’s World This Weekend. “We are supposed to be taking a lead on the moral issues of the world.” Mr Scowcroft, chairman of the President’s foreign intelligence advisory board, said: “It’s a matter of setting your priorities. There’s no question that Saddam is a problem. He has already launched two wars and spent all the resources he can working on his military. But the President has announced that terrorism is our number one focus. Saddam is a problem, but he’s not a problem because of terrorism.” Mr Scowcroft added that he had no doubt a US military campaign could dislodge Saddam. But he added: “I think we could have an explosion in the Middle East. It could turn the whole region into a cauldron and destroy the War on Terror.” Mr Scowcroft pointed to the “almost consensus” around the world against the United States going to war with Iraq. British officials have since September 11 repeatedly warned the US not to use the War on Terror as an excuse to attack Saddam. Joseph Biden, Democrat chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is hearing expert evidence on Iraq, said yesterday: “I believe there probably will be a war with Iraq. The only question is, is it alone, is it with others and how long and how costly will it be?’ " |
This is an almost nonsensical statement and Scowcroft either must be developing early Alzheimer's or should hang his head in abject shame.
If the U.S. War on Terror is going to be destroyed, it will be from from the lack of fortitude to take concrete action to destroy America's enemies.
The Middle East IS a cauldron -- and stirring up that cauldron will have quite the opposite effect that the now shallow-thinking Scowcroft so cavalierly tosses out (has he been abducted by aliens, say the French?).
Enemies in the open are far preferable to hidden ones. And clearing the rhetorical garbage that has built up from Islamic sympathizers world-wide will allow everyone to see clearly the danger that retreat and surrender in the face of this enemy represents.
If we fail to deal with Iraq, then we openly demonstrate that we cannot deal with anyone, or at least anyone that might fight back. We openly show that we no longer have the fortitude to take the military option. And this will help us to deal with terrorists how?
I think Scowcroft has taken up binge drinking in his retirement (thank GOD he's retired).
The Democrats and pacifists in this country will put up a howl and scream (and marches and protests and demonstrations and civil disobedience) to shake the rafters when the attack does start: putting words out there like this will only give ammo to the Administration's internal enemies to use against them. If the War on Terror is to be lost, it will lost like Vietnam -- from within the U.S. not from without.
And anyway, disinformation like this is only useful if the attack is very, very, very soon. If it is a half-year, or even a few months away it will get lost in the clutter.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.