A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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December 20, 2003Positive Fallout In Libya And IranWhile we haven't found any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the surprise revelations about Libya's nuclear program, and the disclosures by Iran suggest that Bush's warmongering may be having positive fallout (excuse the pun) in increasing cooperation from these regimes. True, the Iraq War has made America even more hated in the streets of the Muslim world. But within the presidential palaces, fear of America may be a more powerful factor in behavior modification. It's a risky strategy, and if it were to backfire in one location--let's say North Korea--that might outweigh all the benefits elsewhere. But in themselves, these appear to be positive results of Bush's "big stick" policy. I don't care for the President, and I support a different candidate in 2004, but I must admit he's having a good month. Update: Zev Schiff reports in Haaretz It has long been known that Libya has a nuclear development program. Among other things, it has been revealed that after Saddam Hussein put an end to the activities of the UN inspectors in Iraq in 1998, Iraqi scientists began arriving in Libya. Thereafter, it was revealed that even more extensive activities were being conducted in Libya with the help of North Korea.If this is verified, it would appear that Saddam was lending his nuclear scientists to Libya in a sort of joint venture. While still not raising matters to the "imminent threat" level, this would give strong support to the notion was Saddam's regime was a danger to the United States in the medium-term. Posted by rickheller at December 20, 2003 11:16 PM Comments
"It's a risky strategy." What other strategy is there? How long do we allow uncertainty in this part of the world to exist, and threaten national security? And as far as I know there was not "war mongering" in either Iran or Libya. Posted by: Mathew Pruitt at December 21, 2003 10:37 AMI've not heard any explicit threats against Libya, but that regime could be taken down a lot more easily than Iraq, given its small population and location across the sea from Italy. Khaddafi is wise to play ball. There has been discussion of a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. The major reasons we have not done so already is that they are dispersed and hardened. There are always risks to an aggressive strategy. I consider the military buildup in the 1980's to be in part responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union. But there are credible reports that Soviet leader Andropov's reaction to them almost led to nuclear war (see project RYAN) Posted by: rickheller at December 21, 2003 11:26 AMI'm sure the Iraq invasion reinforced Libya's direction toward respectable nationhood, but I'll not grant the administration any awards for this on that basis. Ever since Reagan almost killed Khaddafi years ago, they have been on the slow road away from terrorism. Another step was the at-least-grudging cooperation with the PanAm 103 investigation. I will give points for the low key months-long negotiations and will wager that DoS had more of a directing role in this than did the DoD. And did you say 'North Korea'!? Hmmm. Posted by: Erasmus at December 21, 2003 12:14 PMLibya's willingness to "come clean" is no doubt linked to the recent seizure of banned WMD production equipment en route to Libya. Caught red-handed, it was co-operate or join the Hit Parade. And while Kaddafi is an egotist and a ruthless dictator, he's not a stupid one. Posted by: Tully at December 21, 2003 06:05 PMYou right! Thanks for great info =) Posted by: Prescription drugs at September 23, 2004 11:04 AM |
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