sorry, no peace; we lose
What pisses me off about the present situation is not that we're going to war, but that
- This particular war is beyond stupid.
We're doing Osama bin Laden an incredible favor by simultaneously removing one of his worst enemies and providing him a whole mess of new recruits (i.e., when the folks struggling out from under the ruins of Basra and whatever else we decide to blow up decide they need an outlet for their anger/frustration).I'm sure he'll remember to thank us.
And, in case you're wondering, this is why I predict there won't be any terrorist reprisals for this attack, in case anyone was worried about that. The time to worry will be 3-4 years from now when the new recruits go into action...
- GWB has gone about this in pretty much the worst way possible.
As things stand, under the UN charter Iraq now has every right to lauch a preemptive attack to defend itself (as Israel did in 1967). They may not be quite so silly, but it's a measure of just how much of the moral high ground we've ceded.Never mind that now having been officially blown off, the UN is probably not going to be terribly quick about providing peacekeeping troops.
Never mind the next time we face a real threat (which I'm guessing won't be long now), we're going to be so hosed internationally because GWB has already done the Boy Crying Wolf thing far too many times.
- You can be sure Saddam Hussein has one last ace up his sleeve.
He's a bright guy and he's had ten years to plan for this. And unless he somehow goes completely into denial, we're pretty much guaranteeing that he's going to use it.One last little "fuck you" to the Western governments that stabbed him in the back after he served them so faithfully all those years. Figure on something small that he can fire off himself without needing to rely on too many subordinates.
A SCUD aimed at Dome of the Rock would be about right. Wouldn't even need a nuclear warhead (though maybe his fellow dictator-in-distress Kim Jong-Il will have fedexed him one by now).
Oh well, at least with the Turks out of the picture, maybe the Kurds won't get utterly screwed this time. But don't hold your breath waiting for free elections in southern Iraq.