Quote:
Originally posted by Mike AI@Mar 15 2004, 02:09 PM
Nick if you assume the reason for gonig to war was WMD, then it looks like a fuck up.
If you see it as the US securing a base of operation to stablize a region of vital importance, to be near the precious oil for long term ecnomics - it is BRILLIANT!
More then one President, Prime Minister has thought about getting into the oil fields on the middle east.
Bush has pulled it off, pretty effortlessly ( militarily speaking), and there has not been a huge "arab street" counter...
Iraq is about oil, stabilization of middle east, putting pressure on saudi arabia, the WMD and getting ride of a tyrant are nice window dressing.
If Saddam had kept playing ball with the US, he would still be in power.
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You say brilliant - I say fundamentally flawed.
What you are describing, Mikey, is imperialism. It's a failed policy that should have been laid to rest in the last century, mostly at the insistence of the Americans.
As a matter of fact, France and Britian tried something similar in '56.
If what you say is true, then Iraq WILL undoubtedly become another Vietnam - one that my 11 year old grandson might get to fight in.
It will then become a matter of whether the American people are willing to sacrifice their sons and daughter to the realpolitik you are espousing. And if they are not, the damage to American prestige and credibility will make Vietnam look like a victory.