Kara wrote:The unfortunate result of this war, which of course the US will win, is that GWB will now see pre-emptive war as a new and successful arrow in his quiver. And the rest of the world will begin to consider following our lead. I see that North Korea is making a predictable statement, that our action against Iraq shows that every nation should have nuclear weapons to defend itself in the future.
Very true Kara. By their action, the United States and Great Britain have emerged as new bullies on the block. People around the world who always admired America for its principles, for its record of human rights have been disillusioned. America's moral strength has diminished and it will take a long time for it to be restored. In retrospect it may turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory.
The United States invaded Iraq for the ostensible reason of 'freeing' the Iraqi people from Saddam Hussein's despotic rule, to rid the Middle East of terrorism and to bring peace to the region. With their overwhelming military superiority they are well on their way to achieving the first. But it is now highly doubtful whether the overthrow of Saddam will bring any peace to the region or even see the end of terrorism.
Saddam Hussein was believed to have a stockpile of Weapons of Mass Destruction although none have been found so far. Eventually, a few canisters of chemicals will certainly be found. Even if they are the genuine stuff, does the US still expect the world to believe that they constituted a threat to it?
The Iraq war could see the resurgence of nationalism in the Middle East. In fact, the war would be the right fillip for the fundamentalist forces which were lying low after their initial success in the eighties. One should not be surprised to see the spread of militancy and fundamentalism in the Gulf in the next two or three years. The remnants of the Ba'ath party will still be active in Iraq and will be supported by sister organisations in neighbouring Syria and Lebanon. Any puppet regime put in place by the US in Iraq will not only be unpopular but is likely to be overthrown after a couple of years.
The combined US/UK action has dissipated whatever goodwill these countries had in the Gulf. The action has created a crescent of hatred for the West in general and for the United States in particular. Years of respect and credibility have been destroyed to grab a few barrels of oil. Even in moderate and so-far friendly countries like Jordan and Egypt, public opinion may force the regimes to distance themselves from the United States and the Western world.
If Saddam still succeeds in escaping and joining hands with Osama bin Laden they can make things quite tough for the Western world. It would be ironic if the war brings about the very thing which the US wanted to avoid.
<above liberally quoted from a article on an Indian webiste by a retd. Admiral>
