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Blame It On France
Not surprisingly, the U.S.-led coalition (along with Britain and Spain - so I guess that qualifies as a "coalition") withdrew their proposed resolution from the United Nations Security Council this morning, citing France's intended veto as a rationale. What they failed to mention of course was the quite obvious fact that France wouldn't even have had to exercise their veto, since it has been clear for days that there was a solid majority in opposition to the resolution anyway. This simply gives the pro-war faction a not terribly convincing way to save face given the overwhelming world-wide opposition to a unilateral pre-emptive incursion into Iraq.
So, now Shrub has given Saddam the equivalent of a "git out of Dodge City" ultimatum, and Administration officials are hinting that "war could be days away." And of course, Saddam is practically daring us to come and get him, with one source indicating that he intends to widen the scope of the war if attacked -- big surprise there, huh? Of course this begs the question: attack with what? If he has in fact been lying all this time about possessing Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD's), and long-range delivery systems, and ends up using them, that would pretty much justify what the U.S. has been saying all along. If on the other hand, it's just a desperate bluff, well he's in for a very nasty surprise himself, because with over a quarter of a million troops in the region just itching to get in and kick Iraqi butt (if for no other reason than it'll mean most of them will get to come home sooner -- whether alive or in body bags, though is part of the dilemma) frankly, ole' Saddam doesn't have a rat's chance of jumping a sinking ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean of getting out alive himself. But then, that also means thousands, possibly tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians are probably going to go down with him before it's all over.
So, I guess it's time to face fact here kids -- we're going to war, we're going to oust Hussein, but at the cost of who knows how many lives, how much money, how many years of euphemistic "nation building" (just another name for armed occupation), even more political and economic destabilization, increased anti-American sentiment around the world, the probability of increased terrorist threats against the U.S., less safety and security for our own citizens accompanied by a concurrent acceleration in the erosion of domestic civil liberties, some short-term gains for companies owned by or affiliated with Bush/Chaney's cronies in the oil and construction industries, and the possibility of moving another few steps closer to the Biblical prophesy of Armageddon that Shrub and his born-again buddies seem so hell-bent on bringing to fruition.
Here's what we're in for gang, although chances are you WON'T be seeing pictures like this on CNN:
Photo Credit: Peter Turnley
Posted byCOMTE
on 9:16 AM
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