From: J. Forster (jfor@quik.com)
Date: Sat Oct 11 2003 - 16:09:35 PDT
Mel Miller wrote:
> Howdy List,
>
> It is an indisputable fact that Saddam Hussein used chemical agents
> against the Kurds in the North and the Marsh Arabs in the South of Iraq.
He has NOT, AFAIK, used them against the USA, Israel, or other US interests.
> He may well have inflated the size of his NBC stock piles so to
> paraphrase Shakespeare; "If so, it were a grevious fault, and greviously
> hath Saddam answered for it."
This seems a bit premature. He could well survive a second Bush presidency, only
to re-surface yet again. Iraq is beginning to look a lot like Vietnam.
> Intelligence gathering is an art as much as a science. The "National
> Interest" is defined by politics as shaped by national perceptions. I am
> not concerned about splitting hairs where our national security is
> concerned.
I oppose the distortion, selective use, or selective omission of intelligence to
support a political objective. Remember, '.. swear to tell the truth, the WHOLE
truth, and NOTHING BUT the truth'. Clearly there are issues of protecting
intelligence sources and methods, but dummied up uranium documents hardly come
under that exception, IMO.
> We are in a guerilla war with extremist elements of a
> culture, using religion as a cover, for their stated desire to crush our
> culture.
Agreed.
> It is in our National Interest to oppose them. Lets keep our
> eye on the ball, we need to uphold our culture, and if a megalomaniac
> like Saddam is reckless and arrogant enough to try to bluff us, well
> then I say:
I'm unconvinced that Saddam represented any plausible threat to US security.
Nothing NBC was used in the 9-11 attacks. Just small knives and a maniacal sense
of mission.
> Thank you very much , Sir for the opportunity to take you out!
Sounds like you believe that the ends justify the means..... A VERY DANGEROUS
principal, IMO. Sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander. It can be used to
justify just about anything. Have you thought about who gets to choose?
> Don"t weep for Saddam, Iran and Syria, one of you may be next.
> Mel Miller
Hmmm... sounds just like a row of dominoes.....
-John
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