Kara wrote: ... George H.W. Bush wrote the following to explain why he didn't go after Saddam Hussein at the end of the Gulf War (1991):
"Trying to eliminate Saddam [...] would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible. [...] We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. [...] There was no viable 'exit strategy' we could see, violating another of our principles. Furthermore, we had been consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world. 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."
Let's parse and score this!
[emphasis added].
1. "Trying to eliminate Saddam [...] would have incurred
incalculable human and political costs.
That part was cheap! GHWB = 0; GWB = 1.
2. Apprehending him was probably
impossible. [...]
So much for impossible! GHWB = 0; GWB = 2.
3. We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect,
rule Iraq. [...]
He got that right! So did GWB. GHWB = 1; GWB = 3.
4. There was no viable 'exit strategy'
we could see, violating another of our principles.
He got that right too! He couldn't see it then. However, there is a viable exit strategy we can see now: kill all the TMM! GHWB = 2; GWB = 4.
5. Furthermore, we had been consciously trying to set a
pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world.
An effective pattern has not yet been set. GHWB = 2; GWB = 4.
6. 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.
Clearly postponed, but not yet destroyed By the way, one can't destroy a precedent not yet set or hoped to be set. GHWB = 2; GWB = 4.
7. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably
still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."
Still? Perhaps! 2003 - 1991 = 12 years; 12 + 2003 = 2015; 2015 - 2004.5 = 10.5 years to go. To soon to tell! GHWB = 2; GWB = 4.
) I read again recently this quote from G.H.W. Bush's book:
The same place all TMM fit in. In your toilet with the rest of human waste.
