.The Real Reason for War in Iraq
We're told that patience is a virtue. One of the most used (and most vacuous) slogans used by the peace movement is "Give peace a chance". However there can come a time when patience will lead to ever worsening situation, and a choice of 2 very different paths must be chosen. That was the choice that faced President Bush in 2002, and why a decision was made to destroy Saddam's regime in Iraq.
The reason that we went to war in Iraq is that there wasn't another way to extricate ourselves from the mess left over from 1991. Terrorist threats, WMD's, and Saddam's stubbornness when dealing with the UN inspectors were partial causes, but the real reason was that we had to find a way to change the dynamics that were in place since 1991, we had to get out of a deteriorating situation.
After Gulf War I large parts of Iraq were put under a US watch. No Iraqi aircraft could fly, and Iraqi troop movements were severely restricted. In the North the Kurds had essentially declared their own state under US protection. Saddam's control of the Southern part of the country was also tenuous.
Saddam's military regularly challenged US aircraft in the no fly zone. Radar targeted planes, and the radar was destroyed on a number of occasions. A few times missiles were fired at US fighters, but missed. Iraqi helicopters darted in the no fly zone with impunity as long as they didn't go far enough for a jet to come to them. This situation was unworkable in the long run. We couldn't have our planes being shot at on a regular basis and not respond.
In addition the trade sanction regime was falling apart. By 2000, Jordanian and Saudi businessmen were shipping goods into the country without thought of the sanctions. France and Russia were openly flying through the no fly zone to show the region their power and the impotence of the US. Various groups and governments were making accusations of genocide because of the deteriorating conditions in Iraq. By 2003 it was also obvious that the UN administered oil for food program was enriching UN bureaucrats and Saddam's regime while doing nothing for the Iraqi people.
President Bush had only 2 choices in the long run. The first choice was to get out of Iraq and allow nature to take its course. That would mean a victory for the French and Russians who were falling over themselves to aid Saddam. It would also mean a slaughter of tens of thousands of Kurds as Saddam re-consolidated his power. It would have meant a pissed off Saddam with no oversight funding terrorists world wide.
The second option was take down the regime and give our forces a way to exit Iraq. The exit won't be quick, but at least there's a path that gets us there now. If even a semi-functioning democracy can be set up then the US troops can completely exit without worrying about it funding terror across the region or destroying Kurdish villages. Without destroying Saddam there was no way the forces could ever come home.
The 2 presidents prior to President GW Bush didn't address this problem. Both kept the deteriorating situation in place, hoping that down the road somebody would find a bloodless way to address the situation. Indeed, I think that President GW Bush may have done the same thing if 9/11 hadn't focused his mind on the necessity of getting the job done and getting out.
In the end the cause of Gulf War II was the lack of resolution in the terms around the end of Gulf War I. Weapons of mass destruction were used as one of the justifications because they were scary and easy to understand. However keeping the status quo allowed the French and Russians to flaunt US problems without worry of retribution and as the situation deteriorated this solution would have to be abandoned at some point. Walking away would have meant murder on a larger scale than at the end of Gulf War I, all blamed on the US.
Given those choices the decision was made to destroy Saddam, which allowed the added bonus of urinating on French influence in the region. I'm sure that folks thought that they would find vats of toxic materials to show before the world press, but that was really the sideshow. In reality Gulf War II was necessary because GHW Bush put US forces an unsustainable position diplomatically and his son had to clean up the mess in the least painful way possible.
RedState
The reason that we went to war in Iraq is that there wasn't another way to extricate ourselves from the mess left over from 1991. Terrorist threats, WMD's, and Saddam's stubbornness when dealing with the UN inspectors were partial causes, but the real reason was that we had to find a way to change the dynamics that were in place since 1991, we had to get out of a deteriorating situation.
After Gulf War I large parts of Iraq were put under a US watch. No Iraqi aircraft could fly, and Iraqi troop movements were severely restricted. In the North the Kurds had essentially declared their own state under US protection. Saddam's control of the Southern part of the country was also tenuous.
Saddam's military regularly challenged US aircraft in the no fly zone. Radar targeted planes, and the radar was destroyed on a number of occasions. A few times missiles were fired at US fighters, but missed. Iraqi helicopters darted in the no fly zone with impunity as long as they didn't go far enough for a jet to come to them. This situation was unworkable in the long run. We couldn't have our planes being shot at on a regular basis and not respond.
In addition the trade sanction regime was falling apart. By 2000, Jordanian and Saudi businessmen were shipping goods into the country without thought of the sanctions. France and Russia were openly flying through the no fly zone to show the region their power and the impotence of the US. Various groups and governments were making accusations of genocide because of the deteriorating conditions in Iraq. By 2003 it was also obvious that the UN administered oil for food program was enriching UN bureaucrats and Saddam's regime while doing nothing for the Iraqi people.
President Bush had only 2 choices in the long run. The first choice was to get out of Iraq and allow nature to take its course. That would mean a victory for the French and Russians who were falling over themselves to aid Saddam. It would also mean a slaughter of tens of thousands of Kurds as Saddam re-consolidated his power. It would have meant a pissed off Saddam with no oversight funding terrorists world wide.
The second option was take down the regime and give our forces a way to exit Iraq. The exit won't be quick, but at least there's a path that gets us there now. If even a semi-functioning democracy can be set up then the US troops can completely exit without worrying about it funding terror across the region or destroying Kurdish villages. Without destroying Saddam there was no way the forces could ever come home.
The 2 presidents prior to President GW Bush didn't address this problem. Both kept the deteriorating situation in place, hoping that down the road somebody would find a bloodless way to address the situation. Indeed, I think that President GW Bush may have done the same thing if 9/11 hadn't focused his mind on the necessity of getting the job done and getting out.
In the end the cause of Gulf War II was the lack of resolution in the terms around the end of Gulf War I. Weapons of mass destruction were used as one of the justifications because they were scary and easy to understand. However keeping the status quo allowed the French and Russians to flaunt US problems without worry of retribution and as the situation deteriorated this solution would have to be abandoned at some point. Walking away would have meant murder on a larger scale than at the end of Gulf War I, all blamed on the US.
Given those choices the decision was made to destroy Saddam, which allowed the added bonus of urinating on French influence in the region. I'm sure that folks thought that they would find vats of toxic materials to show before the world press, but that was really the sideshow. In reality Gulf War II was necessary because GHW Bush put US forces an unsustainable position diplomatically and his son had to clean up the mess in the least painful way possible.
RedState
posted by madtom at 1:17 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home