Bush Pours Cold Water on Iraq War Talk

Reuters via Yahoo! ^ | Wed Aug 21, 5:05 PM ET | By Mark Egan

[Lion's Cub]

Call me niave, but I actually expect that we'll wake up one morning to discover there was a coup, and that our role will be one of mostly a police action to prevent some other opportunist from becoming a would-be dictator. I seriously doubt that there are more than a handful of Iraqis who would fight to keep Saddam in power. They all get up wondering if today is the day he decides to purge them.

I suspect the new interim government will have been mostly decided before the coup and ready to begin functioning, at least at a minimum level, the moment Hussein is relieved of his authority.

[zapiks44]

All that Bush has said is that Saddam is a threat and he'd like to see him removed from power. THAT'S ALL. That's been US policy since the end of the Gulf War. This whole "Invasion of Iraq imminent" frenzy is all a fantasy devised by the media. Bush and other officials make a few statements, the press dismantles them and soon a bunch of whacked-out theories take a life of their own in the press.

Klintoon tried to oust him a few times, but just sent a bunch of cruise missiles that Iraq quickly spun into propaganda. He did the same to bin Laden in Afghanistan, and look what happened. I fear that Saddam will pull a similar trick as he becomes emboldened in his defiance of the US.

[mark the shark]

I have to agree with you, it was also the same nay saying and foot dragging in Europe then too. 'We feel real bad about downtown New York, but can't we all get along!?'. When we decide it's time there will be some careful and quiet meetings to let the real players know what's up and when, and then we will execute Phase 3 of Operation Desert Storm. Scrowcroft is no toadie, he is probably serving a real funtion here in a disinfo. campaign.

[greggy]

There are several ways to look at this.

1. Propaganda to put Iraq back to sleep before a real strike (Turkey is getting ready for war, remember?)

2. Real backing off, in which case a single Scud into Israel will forever give Bush the most powerful case for future adventures, "I told you so before, but you didn't believe me then either!"

3. He saw my article at http://www.glorywatch.com/gulfwariifinaldestiny.htm and decided he didn't want to lose.

4. All the hype was to get Iraq to preempt American forces and give Israel and America all the excuse they ever needed- but it didn't work.

[greggy]

When the US makes its move against Saddam, it will be quick, it will be decisive, and

We took more than one month to get Iraq out of tiny Kuwait and you expect us to get Saddam in what sounds like a few days though his CNC is spread over a vast region? I just don't see it.

[lentulusgracchus]

I think the President just blinked.

Saddam wins.

[greggy]

But I can wait.

Are you sure? Or will waiting one more day prove fatal?

[greggy]

It's almost like Bush is playing the media to death as a punishment for what they did to his father?!

Then again he may be tormenting them so when the time comes they won't believe it until it is all over?

[Russell Scott]

They did a surprise attack on us, hopefully we will return the favor. And instead of the WTC, the total destruction of all of Sadamn's palaces on the first sortie. I think one Daisy Cutter per palace would due it.

[Octavius]

"I'm a patient man,"
Or is it "I'm a slow man"

[Octavius]

"I'm a patient man,"
Or is it, "I'm a slow man"

[jwalsh07]

Are you sure? Or will waiting one more day prove fatal?

I am sure that the men in the know will do what is right at the proper time. I am also sure that a haphazard invasion will result in needless casualties to my former brothers and sisters in arms.

So, the answer is I trust the administration to act in a timely manner while giving our troops the best chance of success. Until then, I can wait.

[My2Cents]

Well, first, the Iraqi army has never recovered from the Gulf War. They'll fold faster than they did in '91. We're not trying to push an occupying army out of a nation; we're trying to remove one person from power. I suspect the US through the CIA is fomenting opposition inside the Iraqi government. Saddam may be removed by his own people. What I'm saying is that once the US has all its ducks in a row, the operation may be more decisive than the so-called pundants think it will be. One never went broke underestimating the wisdom of American media pundits.

[dhfnc]

Are you sure? Or will waiting one more day prove fatal?

I agree with you. If Saddam is the threat that President Bush says he is, then everyday that this is delayed means more time for Saddam to make more wicked weapons. We should not wait until he has used one. If he really is a threat and has the weapons to do us harm, then we must move quickly. Waiting for all the political crap to iron out is not in the best interest of the American people.

The press has lost it on this one - they are mad because they are not being told anything - so they make up their own version with the usual anti-American spin.