those are other reasons not to invade iraq.
for me it was recreating the terrorist monster. i called it sowing dragon's teeth after the story of jason and the argonauts. and sadly, that is precisely what has happened.
what were you saying at the time, doma? i don't remember your contemporaneous posts. my main memory is of cm, HhH and me arguing with almost everyone else on the boards that it was a bad idea. but a lot of folks said nothing. many amplified saddam's threat, pretending he was a new hitler or stalin, threatening the whole world.
06 Mar 2003, 12:14 AM EST
"eamonnshute, except in terms of threat level. He's a local despot, but he is also a eunuch in terms of the extent of his power. Stalin was very different in this.
To those who seem to think my game is "peace in our time" with Iraq, please read what I am saying very carefully. My concern is the war with al Qaeda and other fundamentalist terrorist groups. My aim is to show that anything the US does in Iraq should be constructed so as not to harm the main cause of the West (and Russia for that matter) which is against Moslem fundamentalism. The thing that I fear most is dragon's teeth.
In this light, the last thing one wants is for the US to be seen as the bully boy in the region. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that this is the picture GWB is painting, if not by design. I think I can have a fairly decent stab at envisaging exactly the sort of resentment this unilateralist approach will create. And I also think I can guess fairly well the response that will come of it. 2 new terrorists for every woman killed. 10 for every child.
The alternative is to demonstrate patience and resolve, both. The Arab world and Europe can be delivered into a coalition if the US and UK are seen to be reasonable, deliberate and capable of listening. The US may want to win the war, but crucially, it's also got to find a way to win the peace. That comes from being seen to be a reluctant warrior, in my opinion, and to be the leader of a world coalition of willing followers. Is that unAmerican? It was done by the father. Why not by the son? "
| 