Quote:
Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
If Kerry had been Prez. we would have had an entirely different civilian Defense establishment, as well as a largely different national security apparatus, and I don't think there is a chance in hell that we would have even proposed invading Iraq.
|
I'm not so sure about that. (I agree that he wouldn't have done it, but I'm pretty sure it would have been proposed, different staff or not.) Even the Clinton admin supposedly spent a few years toying with the idea of invading Iraq given the total ineffectiveness (and expense) of sanctions and policing the no-fly zones, even if mainly in a "yeah, well, that would be an improvement over either the status quo or just giving up and leaving, but the public would never tolerate it and the Repubs would start screaming "Wag the Dog!"" sort of way.
This is one reason why it baffles me a bit when people freak out at the idea that Bush II might have wanted to invade Iraq and discussed options pre 9/11 - I mean, given the totally static, worthless situation there under sanctions, they'd have been remiss if they hadn't considered it. And not because of "WMD!" or "save the Iraqi children!" or "democracy now!" or "restore respect and effectiveness to international sanctions!", just purely from a "well, we're stuck in this game of chicken now, and the status quo sucks from everyone's p.o.v. (er, except kick-back recipients, apparently), and regime change by hook or by crook is really the only option since we can't realistically can't be the ones to blink, and all prior attempts to forment an internal coup or poison SH's yoghurt or make his beard fall out or whatever have not worked, so what other options are out there?" perspective.
