Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Skybird
You are wrong, LoBlo.The Iraq qar had been set on the agenda many years before 9/11, and described by Wolfowitz in written papers. It dissapeared from the table under Clinton, but laready then it was planned for. It's execution was decided the day Bush was elected (or any other conservative administration). 9/11 caused Afghanistan going first, and Iraq following soon after. - Of course, the whole match already was lost on day 4 of the war in 91 - when the premature cease-fire was declared. That was the day the US policy on Iraq was defeated. Since then, 1991, it was only about preventing that fact from becoming realized by the public.
|
Yes the proponents of a "strike first ask questions later" response have been in government for years, proponents of Iraqi war have been inplace ever since the first war was concluded. However, these proponents (including GWB) would have met too much resistence to enact their plans if 9/11 had not taken place. The 9/11 incident allowed them just enough impetus to achieve their plans. The way for a "strike them before they strike us" policy was laid with the bombing and plans to conduct an Iraqi war were legitimized under this policy. It was just enough to allow them to conduct their agena. Had 9/11 not taken place, then too much opposition would have prevented any full military conflict, IMHO. Their are those like to fancy conspiracy theories, insisting that GWB would have gone dictator and been able to achieve a war anyway, but the reality is that he would not have had enough support IMHO to proceed.
As far as the first Gulf War and GHWB Sr. He states in his autobiography his reasons for not removing Sadam Hussein from power and stopping the war when he did, reasons that basically say in a nutshell that he was attempting to prevent the exact situation that the US currently is in... that full scale Iraqi invasion would be without an exit plan and with no clear end strategy in site. If you remember... well, perhaps you don't since you don't live in the US... but during the build up toward the first Gulf War the most pressing concerns were that Iraq was going to become another Vietnam. The bitter, bloodly, and embarassing incident of Vietnam was the most vivid military experience still in public memory and the public (appropriately) looked upoon any conflict with fear and foreboding believing Iraq will become a repeat of Vietnam (contrary to popular belief most Americans are not war mongerers and hate military conflict). The fear was strong enough that GHWB had to emphatically and publicly pronounce on several occasions that he would not allow the conflict to linger and become a repeat Vietnam. This was his motivation for ending the conflict, to prevent a situation like the one currently.
...but for some reason his son was not as wise as the father... even more apparent when you compare their track records. GWB Jr. stumbled right into the mess that his father was smart enough to avoid, IMHO. Though there may be some unforseen benifits to the current situation... though not readily realized.