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The War Party's imperial plans
World Net Daily ^ | 9/11/2002 | Pat Buchanan

Posted on 09/11/2002 3:32:38 PM PDT by traditionalist

The fires had not yet gone out at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a year ago, before the War Party had introduced its revised plans for American empire. What many saw as a horrific atrocity and tragedy, they saw instantly as an opportunity to achieve U.S. hegemony over an alienated Islamic world.

President Bush initially directed America's righteous wrath and military power at al-Qaida. But in his "axis-of-evil" address, he signed on to the War Party's agenda.

What lies ahead? When America invades Iraq, it will have to destroy Saddam and all his weapons of mass destruction. Else, the war will have been a failure. And to ensure destruction of those weapons, we must occupy Iraq. If you would see what follows, pull out a map.

With Americans controlling Iraq, Syria is virtually surrounded by hostile powers: Israel on the Golan, Turks and Kurds to the north, U.S. power to the west in Iraq and south in Jordan. Syrian President Assad will be forced to pull his army out of Lebanon, leaving Israel free to reinvade Lebanon to settle accounts with Hezbollah.

Now look to Iran. With Americans occupying Iraq, Iran is completely surrounded: Americans and Turks to the west, U.S. power in the Gulf and Arabian Sea to the south, in Afghanistan to the east and in the old Soviet republics to the north. U.S. warplanes will be positioned to interdict any flights to Lebanon to support Hezbollah.

Iraq is the key to the Middle East. As long as we occupy Iraq, we are the hegemonic power in the region. And after we occupy it, a window of opportunity will open – to attack Syria and Iran before they acquire weapons of mass destruction.

This is the vision that enthralls the War Party – "World War IV," as they call it – a series of "cakewalks," short sharp wars on Iraq, Syria and Iran to eliminate the Islamic terrorist threat to us and Israel for generations.

No wonder Ariel Sharon and his Amen Corner are exhilarated. They see America's war on Iraq as killing off one enemy and giving Israel freedom to deal summarily with two more: Hezbollah and the Palestinians. Two jumps ahead of us, the Israelis are already talking up the need for us to deal with Libya, as well.

Anyone who believes America can finish Saddam and go home deceives himself. With Iraq's military crushed, the country will come apart. Kurds in the north and Shi'ites in the south will try to break away, and Iraq will be at the mercy of its mortal enemy, Iran. U.S. troops will have to remain to hold Iraq together, to find and destroy those weapons, to democratize the regime, and to deter Iran from biting off a chunk and dominating the Gulf.

Recall: After we crushed Germany and Japan in World War II, both were powerless to reassume their historic roles of containing Russia and China. So, America, at a cost of 100,000 dead in Vietnam and Korea, had to assume those roles. With Iraq in ruins, America will have to assume the permanent role of Policeman of the Persian Gulf.

But is this not a splendid vision, asks the War Party. After all, is this not America's day in the sun, her moment in history? And is not the crushing of Islamism and the modernization of the Arab world a cause worthy of a superpower's investment of considerable treasure and blood?

What is wrong with the War Party's vision?

Just this: Pro-American regimes in Cairo, Amman and Riyadh will be shaken to their foundations by the cataclysm unleashed as Americans smash Iraq, while Israelis crush Palestinians. Nor is Iran likely to passively await encirclement. Terror attacks seem certain. Nor is a militant Islam that holds in thrall scores of millions of believers from Morocco to Indonesia likely to welcome infidel America and Israel dictating the destiny of the Muslim world.

As for the pro-American regimes in Kabul and Pakistan, they are but one bullet away from becoming anti-American. And should the Royal House of Saud come crashing down, as the War Party ardently hopes, do they seriously believe a Vermont-style democracy will arise?

Since Desert Storm, America has chopped its fleets, air wings and ground troops by near 50 percent, while adding military commitments in the Balkans, Afghanistan, the Gulf and Central Asia. Invading and occupying Iraq will require hundreds of thousands of more troops.

We are running out of army. And while Americans have shown they will back wars fought with no conscripts and few casualties, the day is not far off when they will be asked to draft their sons to fight for empire, and many of those sons will not be coming home. That day, Americans will tell us whether they really wish to pay the blood tax that is the price of policing the War Party's empire.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: arab; arabs; iraq; israel; middleeast; neareast; neocons; neoconservatives
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To: traditionalist
If he viewed al-Qaida as a potential adversary, why is he granting them sanctuary?

You heard the President's speech. Al-Qaida is in Iraq. THAT triggers the September 14, 2001 resolution.
121 posted on 09/12/2002 9:18:19 AM PDT by hchutch
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To: SteamshipTime
Yeah, but while they are looking for sanctuary, we can hunt them down, and what nation will grant them sanctuary if Iraq faces the full power and rage of the United States? Seeing Saddam swinging by his neck from a gallows will deter a lot of the tinhorns.
122 posted on 09/12/2002 9:21:20 AM PDT by hchutch
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To: traditionalist
With Americans controlling Iraq, Syria is virtually surrounded by hostile powers: Israel on the Golan, Turks and Kurds to the north, U.S. power to the west in Iraq and south in Jordan. Syrian President Assad will be forced to pull his army out of Lebanon, leaving Israel free to reinvade Lebanon to settle accounts with Hezbollah.

Hey, not a bad idea - I like it

123 posted on 09/12/2002 9:22:17 AM PDT by taxcontrol
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To: hchutch
If he viewed al-Qaida as a potential adversary, why is he granting them sanctuary?

Al-Qaeda forces are in Northern Iraq, a part of the country not under his control.

124 posted on 09/12/2002 9:22:53 AM PDT by traditionalist
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To: traditionalist
Some are there, in the Libertarian Paradise (a place without government). Some are hiding out in Baghdad.
125 posted on 09/12/2002 9:23:43 AM PDT by Poohbah
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To: traditionalist
What's world net daily?
126 posted on 09/12/2002 9:24:07 AM PDT by jjm2111
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To: Poohbah
So he never sent most of his Air Force to Iran in 1991? Whoops, he did.

I hardly think an airforce of obsolete Soviet fighters is comparable to Weapons of Mass destruction.

127 posted on 09/12/2002 9:24:25 AM PDT by traditionalist
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To: traditionalist
"Recall: After we crushed Germany and Japan in World War II, both were powerless to reassume their historic roles of containing Russia and China. So, America, at a cost of 100,000 dead in Vietnam and Korea, had to assume those roles. With Iraq in ruins, America will have to assume the permanent role of Policeman of the Persian Gulf.

Ohhhh, I forgot, Hitler good, USA bad!! Typical Buchanan.

128 posted on 09/12/2002 9:26:13 AM PDT by jjm2111
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To: Poohbah
Some are there, in the Libertarian Paradise (a place without government).

LOL. I love your characterization! Another Libertarian Paradise would be Somalia.

Some are hiding out in Baghdad.

I haven't seen any reports saying the above. Do you have some documentation? If he is in fact giving them sanctuary, then the hawks might have a point.

129 posted on 09/12/2002 9:27:28 AM PDT by traditionalist
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To: bigunreal
words like anit-semite in reference to P.B.'s column posted here are not politically correct--they are true. His postion on Israel is as clear as the nose on my face (and I have a fairly substantial one) from this article. I know that Pat and others who hold his postion make a distincition between Israel as a political entitity and Jewish people as an ethnic identity--however, my religious orientation (evangelical christian) leads me to the conclusion that Israel the political institution is an instrument God has raised up to protect his people, the Jews and therefore it is in our best interest in the US to adopt a geo-political strategy that protects the welfare of the state of Israel, and keeps the growing threat of Islam at bay. Islam is opposed to Christianity and Judaism. Taking out Iraq and achieving hegemony in the middle east would allow the Christian mission in that area to go forward with less impediments--just as Colonialism in the 19th century paved the way for the church's mission in Asia and Africa, and the Roman empire allowed Christian missions to spread throughout the near east. I don't understand how Pat as a devout Christian, does not get that.
130 posted on 09/12/2002 9:27:58 AM PDT by sonrise57
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To: traditionalist
You're looking for any excuse to avoid taking Saddam Hussein on. I'm sorry, but the time to ignore him passed LONG ago.
131 posted on 09/12/2002 9:28:07 AM PDT by hchutch
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To: traditionalist
I hardly think an airforce of obsolete Soviet fighters is comparable to Weapons of Mass destruction.

He sent his best aircraft--MiG-29s, Su-27s, and Su-24s--to Iran.

By the way...just where do you think al-Qaeda got the anthrax from? Bob's 99-Cent Store?

132 posted on 09/12/2002 9:28:56 AM PDT by Poohbah
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To: traditionalist
I haven't seen any reports saying the above. Do you have some documentation? If he is in fact giving them sanctuary, then the hawks might have a point.

The President addressed this very thing in his speech to the U.N. Did you see or hear it?

133 posted on 09/12/2002 9:29:37 AM PDT by rdb3
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To: hchutch
Seeing Saddam swinging by his neck from a gallows will deter a lot of the tinhorns.

First, Saddam is not going to be executed, though he may be killed in a bombing raid. Second, the tinhorns are not your problem. The rabble are.

The sad truth is that we can no more eliminate the risk of terrorism any more than we can eliminate the risk of criminal acts. What we can do is methodical investigative work to track down and assassinate the al-Qaida members who were responsible for the 9/11 attacks, allow our citizens to carry weapons for their own defense, secure our borders, and stay out of other peoples' inter-tribal conflicts.

134 posted on 09/12/2002 9:31:39 AM PDT by SteamshipTime
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To: hchutch
You're looking for any excuse to avoid taking Saddam Hussein on. I'm sorry, but the time to ignore him passed LONG ago.

No, I'm trying to find a good argument for invading and for the next decade or so occupying a country with a hostile population that had nothing to do with the 9-11 attacks. So far I have not seen any.

135 posted on 09/12/2002 9:32:06 AM PDT by traditionalist
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To: Poohbah
By the way...just where do you think al-Qaeda got the anthrax from? Bob's 99-Cent Store?

Well, according to information released to the public at the time of the incidents, it most likely came from one of the hundreds of labs in the US that works with Anthrax.

136 posted on 09/12/2002 9:34:52 AM PDT by traditionalist
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To: traditionalist; Poohbah
It came from Fort Detrick, Maryland or the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah.
137 posted on 09/12/2002 9:37:09 AM PDT by SteamshipTime
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To: traditionalist
That's it. Stick a fork in him. He's done. Buchanan's finally lost what few marbles he had left. He's now officially the right-wing's answer to Lyndon LaRouche...
138 posted on 09/12/2002 9:37:14 AM PDT by mhking
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To: traditionalist
No, I'm trying to find a good argument for invading and for the next decade or so occupying a country with a hostile population that had nothing to do with the 9-11 attacks. So far I have not seen any.

Did you or did you not hear the President's speech to the U.N.?

139 posted on 09/12/2002 9:37:17 AM PDT by rdb3
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To: rdb3
From the President's speech:

"In violation of Security Council Resolution 1373, Iraq continues to shelter and support terrorist organization that direct violence against Iran, Israel, and Western governments. Iraqi dissidents abroad are targeted for murder. In 1993, Iraq attempted to assassinate the Emir of Kuwait and a former American President. Iraq's government openly praised the attacks of September 11th. And al-Qaida terrorists escaped from Afghanistan are known to be in Iraq."

We all know Al-Qaeda operatives are in Iraq. The question is where. All the reports I've seen say they are in the North, where Saddam is not in control.

140 posted on 09/12/2002 9:39:05 AM PDT by traditionalist
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