Why Iraq? And Why Now?
Am I missing something?
While North Korea is strongly suggesting plans to start building a nuclear arsenal, the United States
is busy cranking up a massive war machine to attack Iraq because a dictator there might just possess obscure "weapons of mass
destruction."
President George W. Bush says he personally believes Saddam Hussein has those weapons but neither
he nor the UN weapons inspectors, who have been searching Iraqi buildings for over a month, have been able to prove it.
The Iraqi leaders insist such weapons do not exist. They seem to be going out of their way to cooperate
with the inspection teams and head-off an attack against their nation. They charge, and I tend to think they are correct,
that Mr. Bush wants control of Iraqi oil more than he wants to put Mr. Hussein out of office.
Yet even as we dispatch an armada of fighting ships, carriers, aircraft, bombers, troops and material
into the Middle East in preparation for a big assault against a little country that has no apparent means of defending itself,
the North Koreans are blatantly flexing an alarming nuclear muscle.
It is almost as if North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il is thumbing his nose at the United States and
the United Nations. I can just see him standing at the peak of his palace, giving us the bird, and singing "yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah."
And to this, Secretary of State Colin Powell says that the United States wants to "negotiate" with
Jong-il and try to persuade him to see the error of his ways.
Is it just me or is there something wrong with this picture?
Lets see . . . Kim Jong-il kicks UN weapons inspectors out of his country and announces plans to
crank up nuclear power plants that will produce plutonium for the manufacture of nuclear weapons. We have U.S. troops stationed
at the edge of the demilitarized zone (DMS) that separates North Korea from South Korea. Could it be that North Korea might
be thinking of using a nuclear bomb on the troops stationed there?
On the other hand, we are rushing ahead with plans to attack Iraq and remove dictator Saddam Hussein
from power, even though Hussein has allowed UN weapons inspectors to ravage his country, even his sacred palaces. He has given
the inspectors free access to anything they want to see. And at our request, he turned over a list of about 500 scientists
who would be capable of working on such weaponry. He even granted permission for these scientists to leave the country if
they feel that questioning by U. S. agents might put their lives in jeopardy.
It is obvious to this observer that Hussein does not want a confrontation with the United States,
nor does he want the people of Iraq to suffer the fate of the citizens of Afghanistan when we went after the Al-Qaeda network
there one year ago. Thousands of innocent civilians perished in our bombing assault.
The attack on Afghanistan was not necessary. We had covert operatives available who could have taken
out Osama bin Laden and the other leaders of the Taliban. Their headquarters were well known to certain military leaders within
days after the 9-11 attacks.
Instead of doing it in one smooth, swift stroke, George W. Bush and Tony Blair chose to send in
a full military force. We carpet bombed the country, destroying towns, factories, bridges, roads, railroads, airports and
thousands of people. The Al-Qaeda network escaped to the hills. We never captured Osama bin Laden.
Now, for reasons apparently only known to George W. Bush, we have turned our attention to Iraq.
Why aren't we positioning our naval armada off the coast of North Korea? Is it because the North
Koreans offer a well-trained military armed with missiles that carry nuclear warheads? Is there a fear that somebody might
get hurt there if we fight there?
I might suggest that the North Korean army is planning to take advantage of our military adventures
in the Middle East and do some empire building when we are in no position to stop it. The fact that the North Koreans are
starving might be the driving force behind their actions.
If it happens, a war with North Korea will be inevitable.
Mr. Bush would be a fool to allow it.
