October 13, 2003
Only If...
In his memoirs, "A World Transformed," written five years ago, George Bush, Sr. wrote the following to explain why he didn't go after Saddam Hussein at the end of the Persian Gulf War.
"Trying to eliminate Saddam, extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq, would have violated our guideline about not changing objectives in midstream, engaging in "mission creep," and would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible. We had been unable to find Noriega in Panama, which we knew intimately. We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. ? Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different -- and perhaps barren -- outcome."
Now only if his son was able to read...
Posted by Pedram at October 13, 2003 11:06 PM