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               | The Gang That Couldn't THINK Straight July 27, 2002 -- SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA (APJP) -- Last week on NPR, in the midst of a discussion on the proposed US invasion of Iraq, I heard it mentioned that Joseph Biden has been visiting the White House, urging George W. Bush to think VERY carefully before he tries to go all the way to Baghdad to nail Saddam Hussein. When Bush asked Biden what he was getting at by saying this, Biden responded with words to the effect that, if we went into Baghdad to take out Saddam, we'll be committed to staying in Iraq for the next five years, both as nation-builders and in hunting down the dug-in remnants of Saddam's Republican Guard, an organization which will be well-equipped to destablize any group we try to install as Saddam's replacements. It's not clear whether invading Iraq simply to take out Saddam Hussein -- a man who Bush the Elder valued because he kept Iran and its ayatollahs preoccupied -- is a good idea. It's not even clear that Saddam even has the weapons that Bush's people say he does! Scott Ritter, the former UN weapons inspector and registered Republican, has been very vocal lately in saying that this pretext for invading Iraq is utter hogwash. But what is most definitely clear is that if we are going to do such, then the Bush team had better show more expertise at both nation-building and military strategy than it has heretofore exhibited. The Bush Junta's woeful efforts at nation-building are shown by the example of Afghanistan. This is an impoverished nation that has been dealing with one invasion after another for the past three decades. One would think that a Truman-style "Marshall Plan" would help stabilize the country long enough for a good, stable government to develop. But so far, the Bush team's efforts are more along the lines of benign, (or perhaps malignant) neglect -- which is one reason why the French government, among others, is so alarmed at the prospect of Bush invading Iraq: if unior and his team can't even put Afghanistan back together, how will they be able to repair Iraq, which is far bigger and a far tougher repair job? As for the Bush Junta's military expertise, let's just say that the regular career military people, in both 1990 and 2002, are the ones winning the wars for them. In fact, as referenced in the website suck.com, "Stormin' " Norman Schwarzkopf tactfully yet clearly shows in his book "It Doesn't Take a Hero", civilian chickenhawk Dick Cheney's tenure as Secretary of Defense under the first King George was spent trying to force his generals into doing incredibly stupid things:
Scary, huh? It gets worse from here:
Consider that Norman Schwarzkopf is a true military man, conditioned to follow orders from the persons who are designated as his superiors, and you'll get an idea of just how cuttingly fierce and damning that criticism coming from him truly is. (Though, come to think about it, Schwartzkopf and McClellan are alike, but not the way Cheney meant it: they both were career military men, unlike the draft-dodging Cheney, and they, also unlike Cheney, cared about what happened to the men under their command, and were loath to spend their lives unless absolutely necessary.) All of this should make it quite clear that we cannot let Bush's minders go ahead with their war games. (Several people in the Pentagon obviously think so -- the amount of leaking of classified information has escalated recently, to the vocal disgust of Defense Secretary Donald "Darth" Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney's ideological and militaristic twin.) Here's what we, as citizens, can do: Call our Congresscritters and ask them to invite Scott Ritter to provide expert testimony as to Iraq's true weapons capabilities. (The Capital switchboard's toll-free number is 1-800-839-5276, and more numbers are mentioned below.) On Monday, July 29, you can join thousands of people across the country in calling the offices of Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC), Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations Committee. When you call, ask for -- nay, demand -- fair hearings by ensuring a balanced range of witnesses, including Scott Ritter. Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE): 202-224-5042 Also, make sure you call Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee. (Washington D.C. office: 202-224-3553; Los Angeles office: 213-894-5000; San Francisco office: 415-403-0100.) Recommendations for witnesses should be sent directly to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The telephone number is 202-224-4651. Names of witnesses can be faxed to 202-228-1612, attention: Puneet Talwar. The fax should include your address and phone number to assist the committee. Witnesses who will provide critical perspectives of the Administration's war Richard Falk - Princeton University Professor of International Law You know what to do. Go and do it!   Copyright © 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, American Politics Journal Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Read our privacy policy. Contact us. ISSN No. 1523-1690 | |||