auto-da-fe

I have heard everyones debates and opinions about the war in Iraq. Some say it was wrong of Bush et al, some say it was justified. Everyone has there own opinion on it.

What I want to know is this though;

If what Bush et al did was so wrong, then what would you have done, knowing the facts as they are now. What I mean is, knowing about the mass graves, the torture chambers, the celebrating Iraqis, and all the rest, knowing all of that, what is your opinion on what should have been done in the first place. Should we have allowed SH and friends to exist ad infinitum, or should we have placed more sanctions on them, or should we have sent snipers to take him out, or what. This is more pointed to the Bush Bahsers and friends who think the war was unjust. PLEASE do not bring WMD's into the debate, as I have heard enough about them lately and since we are talking hypothetically, there is no reason to even bring them up.

So, what would you have done different? Would you be ok with doing nothing knowing the truth about what was going on? Would your concieous allow you to sit back and do nothing about SH knowing how he treated and killed his people?

brighid

I think it is unfair to demand that WMD remain out of this, or any debate about the war in Iraq as that was THEE critical component of this war. You may be tired of hearing about it, but that does not mean it is not a valid point of discussion.

Brighid

auto-da-fe

but my question is what would the people who think what bush did was wrong have done differently. since they all claim no wmd's exist, then there is no reason for them to bring it up when they tell me what they would have done differently. at least that was my thinking.

mostly i am just to keep this from being derailed into a WMD debate.

brighid

It is possible to have a relevant discussion about your OP and discussing WMD as related to the OP without getting off track. I can see where WMD would come up, specifically with regard to continued inspections by the UN team.

Brighid

auto-da-fe

I see your point. Many have decried the fact that we didn't allow enough time for the inspections to work, so I guess in that sense, the WMD debate is relevant.

Point well taken.

brighid

Thank you.

Brighid

auto-da-fe

I wonder if it would be possible for some nice mod to move this to the political discussions forum.

Godless Dave

Good question!

I would not have brought the WMD/Iraq issue up when Bush did. Saddam had been defying the inspections and UN resolutions for some time. I don't see what made last fall the magical time to bring the situation to a head.

If I were president of the US, I would have attempted to continue the containment of Saddam and stepped up intelligence gathering from inside Iraq. I would also have tried to find a way to encourage effective self-government in the areas of Iraq that were outside of Saddam's control. But frankly, after 9/11/01 I wouldn't have been paying much attention to Iraq because I would have been devoting a lot of military and intelligence resources to finding and destroying Al Qaeda cells and devoting a whole lot of resources to rebuilding Afghanistan.

I also would probably have pulled US troops out of Saudi Arabia and spun it as part of reducing military commitments abroad and respecting Saudi soveriegnty. One possible outcome of such an action would be reduced tension in the region. Another one would be that Iraq would attack Kuwait as soon as we pulled out of Saudi, in which case I wait for the Gulf states to come crawling back and ask for our help in getting him out, then go in with a real coalition like the first Gulf War, except this time we'd go all the way (like we probably should have the first time).

But if containment worked, and essentially removed Saddam as a serious threat, I would probably leave Iraq be. I would try to use my PR power to publicize how much money and food Iraq was getting through the oil-for-food program and blame the starvation and lack of medical care in Iraq on Saddam.

auto-da-fe

That all sounds great Dave, but does that mean that you are willing to make the Iraqi people suffer with no help from the US against such a brutal regime? Or should we wait for someone to specifically ask for our help? When considering the mass graves for example, how many more mass graves would it take before you would be willing to step in and put a stop to it.

The Other Michael

Will an occasionally crochety mod do as well?

cheers,
Michael
MF&P Moderator (Maximus)