printDon’t forget that at the time Bush was preparing to invade Iraq, he was giving North Korea room to maneuver freely on the axis of evil. While Iraqi palm dates were being subjected to strict trade embargoes, North Korean Scud missiles were allowed to safely reach their destinations: the jammed-with-Jihadist nations of Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Libya and Yemen.
In 2002, a North Korean vessel was not allegedly—but actually—apprehended in the Arabian Sea, carrying 15 well-concealed Scud missiles. At the time of its invasion, Iraq was suspected of hiding a total of 60 Scud-variant missiles. While Bush was revving up for war with Iraq, North Koreans were sailing the seas in search for markets for the equivalent of a fourth of the entire Iraqi arsenal.
You see, North Korea didn’t and apparently doesn’t sell missiles to Al-Qaida. While Iraq might have. That’s an important distinction.
The weapons inspectors, who were criss-crossing Iraq before the invasion, were not allowed to finish their uneventful task (Bush threw them out so he could invade). At the same time, Bush exempted North Korea’s Yongbyon research base from inspections, but not before bribing the North Koreans with $95m.
So long as you understand that North Korea’s belligerence is ultimately all Clinton’s fault.
Ilana, you’ve been onto this from the first. Here’s why I think this has played out like it has.
In modern politics, if a particular long – term goal or fundamental principle is revealed, it will be killed in the press and then in congress soon thereafter.
From my vantage point in the industrial wasteland, it looked from the beginning as if the goals were;
1. Retaliate against muslims for the attacks on the world trade center and the Pentagon, using the Iraqis who were a conveniently defiant and belligerent target.
2. Take the focus and the fighting onto muslim soil, drawing out the radicals to fight against soldiers instead of civilians. Again, using the convenient target of the intransigent Saddam.
3. Demonstrate to muslims and the world that the will of the West is not totally impotent.
4. End up with a permanent, secure military base in the area, both to serve as a target for radical enemies and to loom as a potent retaliatory threat to aggressive neigbors in the area.
[All of the above, if true, is an even bigger joke, so long as our borders are open and our immigration policies welcome into the homeland those we attack abroad—ILANA]
Of course, the administration would be politically dead if they enumerated these goals. I figure that their political calculation was that if most of the people believed the stream of lies that came from previous administrations, they would believe whatever line they concocted to put this plan into action, so long as it were superficially plausible. History shows that illogic does not sink in with the populace. As today’s headlines fade, the story can be changed tomorrow to fit the situation. These elites think they have to do what is best for us, while paying lip service to the ‘fake rules’, like those put down in the constitution.
So even if they believe their cause is just, they believe they have to lie about it, so that the press can be kept busy with side issues while the agenda moves forward.
Whether or not these goals are moral or defensible, it would be political suicide to hand the press and the politicians an agenda that advances the interests of the United States or the businesses that keep it alive.
Of course this means that deception is the Only Way To Get Things Done in Washington, and it doesn’t need to be said that it won’t always be to our benefit. And it’s more dangerous to everybody when the party in power believes their cause is just and that the use of force is justified.
–John Danforth–