Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Cheap shots not worth the ink
James Litchfield, in his richly informative letter of Nov. 2 ("Cheap shots not worth the ink", the title itself somewhat of a cheap shot ,I suspect originating in the editorial mind), accuses me of Monday morning quarter-backing the president's decision to invade Iraq. He says no one can do this "after 18 months of data pouring in". James has given us a breakdown of Iraqi transgressions beginning with the Iran/ Iraq war in 1979, a war in which we backed Iraq and provided military assistance in the form of weaponry. We sometimes seem to select our villians based on expediency, don't we?
From there, James provides a litany of crimes committed by Saddam over the years, including the gassing of the Kurds and other atrocities that are a matter of record. Okay, here's where things get a little murky. The world had full knowledge of these events, including the United States and yet nothing was done about it until Iraq invaded Kuwait and the specter of an imminent invasion of Saudi Arabia was a distinct possibility. Please don't try to tell me that the possibility of Saudi Oil falling into Saddam's hands did'nt raise the stakes immeasurably. Suddenly the UN along with the United States decided it was time to clip Saddams wings and launched an attack on Iraq. After driving Iraqi forces out of Kuwait and forcing Saddam to throw in the towel. Inspectors were then sent in to monitor and/or search for biological and nuclear weapons of mass destruction. To cut to the chase, the president was unwilling to allow the inspectors to complete their search and unilaterly launched an invasion. I, along with many other Americans, thought then and think now, that it was a mistake and we should have given the inspectors time to do their job. No Monday morning quarter-backing here, James.
As for where we are at this stage, the scenario is still being played out and so far it has been a horrific one. I don't want to downplay the massive task that has been given to our military forces and while I did'nt think invading Iraq was something we had to do, I hope for the sake of all of us, that we succeed in leaving the country better off than we found it. The odds of that seem doubtful to say the least. I know that my feelings about the whys and wherefores of why we are in this quagmire is not shared by everyone, but then , one person's firm convictions are usually someone else's "monday morning quarter-backing".
George Morin
Auburn
From there, James provides a litany of crimes committed by Saddam over the years, including the gassing of the Kurds and other atrocities that are a matter of record. Okay, here's where things get a little murky. The world had full knowledge of these events, including the United States and yet nothing was done about it until Iraq invaded Kuwait and the specter of an imminent invasion of Saudi Arabia was a distinct possibility. Please don't try to tell me that the possibility of Saudi Oil falling into Saddam's hands did'nt raise the stakes immeasurably. Suddenly the UN along with the United States decided it was time to clip Saddams wings and launched an attack on Iraq. After driving Iraqi forces out of Kuwait and forcing Saddam to throw in the towel. Inspectors were then sent in to monitor and/or search for biological and nuclear weapons of mass destruction. To cut to the chase, the president was unwilling to allow the inspectors to complete their search and unilaterly launched an invasion. I, along with many other Americans, thought then and think now, that it was a mistake and we should have given the inspectors time to do their job. No Monday morning quarter-backing here, James.
As for where we are at this stage, the scenario is still being played out and so far it has been a horrific one. I don't want to downplay the massive task that has been given to our military forces and while I did'nt think invading Iraq was something we had to do, I hope for the sake of all of us, that we succeed in leaving the country better off than we found it. The odds of that seem doubtful to say the least. I know that my feelings about the whys and wherefores of why we are in this quagmire is not shared by everyone, but then , one person's firm convictions are usually someone else's "monday morning quarter-backing".
George Morin
Auburn
