Wednesday, January 29, 2003

State of the Union
I'm afraid it left me cold. I really admire and have a lot of respect for this guy, but he's just not giving me what I need in order to be fully behind his intended military action against Iraq.

Part of the problem is that I just can't see Saddam Hussein as the equivalent of Hitler. He is at most a failed Hitler wannabe. That failure is due in no small part to the unchamberlain like action of G.H.W. Bush. And it didn't hurt that S.H. already had shown that he couldn't whip Iran.

And if he does or did have weapons of mass destruction, I do not see how using them would ever be an option for him. He would not only be the recipient of the wrath of the entire western world, but of the entire Middle East as well (I don't think even Syria would want him to use them). Including, dare we say, Israel, who would not hesitate to take care of any direct threat upon their sovereignty. He would have to be suicidal to use them. Maybe he is, but if he is he is just simply insane.

As for his internal oppression, this moves me and is enough for me to insight intervention, but the U.S. doesn't as a rule seem to be in the business of unilaterally intervening in countries where there is internal oppression. Witness Cambodia. Perhaps one could argue that Carter was president at the time. Still, I don't think internal oppression has often been the motivating force for U.S. military intervention. Correct me if I'm wrong on this.

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