-Caveat Lector- >From WND
}}}>Begin This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows. To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25035 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 'On-to-Baghdad!' or 'Stop at Kabul!'? By Patrick J. Buchanan © 2001 Creators Syndicate, Inc. Neither the Taliban, nor al-Qaida, nor bin Laden is in the bag yet, but the war drums have already begun beating for phase II. If the war hawks have their way, Iraq is next on the target list. Three weeks ago, President Bush was warned in an open letter that his failure to attack Iraq "will constitute an early and perhaps decisive surrender in the war on international terrorism." The ultimatum was signed by 41 foreign policy veterans and writers, including Jeanne Kirkpatrick, William Bennett and editors at The Weekly Standard, Commentary and The New Republic. National Review has now enlisted, The Wall Street Journal is in full shriek, and syndicated columnists are slapping on their war paint. As Cato the Elder ended every speech in the Roman forum with "Delenda est Carthago!" ("Carthage must be destroyed!"), so our neo-conservatives have decreed that Iraq must be destroyed. Now, if Iraq colluded in the mass murder of 5,500 Americans, Saddam's regime should be destroyed and the pounding not stop until he is dead or gone. But the problem is this: There is as yet no hard evidence of Iraqi compl icity in the crime, but vast evidence of Saudi connections and involvement with the Taliban, al-Qaida and Osama. And if Iraq is not guilty of the atrocities of Sept. 11, and the U.S. lashes out at Baghdad, the Islamic world will see it not as a valid act of justice by a wounded, grieving America, but as an act of vengeance by an arr ogant superpower on a small nation that defied it. Moreover, this war on Iraq would not be Desert Storm II. In 1991, President Bush had a 28-nation alliance and General Schwarzkopf had tens of thousands of troops from Britain, France, Syria and Egypt. They will not be there this time. Even Tony Blair has told Mr. Bush he will t ake a pass. And the Saudis have put us on notice that their bases are not available for an attack on another Arab country. This time, America goes in alone. Moreover, the mighty Army of Desert Storm, like Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, is history. In a dozen years, U.S. defense spending has fallen from Reagan's 6 percent of GDP to Clinton's 3 percent. Adds Oliver North, "We have cut our army divisions from 18 to 10. We now have 13 fighter wings, down from 24. Our Navy, which boasted 546 ships, today has only 316." In 1990, the U.S. had an open-and-shut case of naked aggression by Iraq that even the U.N. could recognize and our enemies could not deny. But without evidence of Saddam's collusion in the terrorism of Sept. 11, an attack on Iraq would be seen as an unprovoked, unjust war that could bring Arab and Islamic mobs into the streets from Morocco to Indonesia, risking the survival of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. What would it profit America t o march to Baghdad, only to have Cairo fall to anti-American mobs? Writing in The Weekly Standard, William Kristol and Robert Kagan, those Hardy Boys of global hegemony, seem to revel in what is coming. This war "is not going to stop in Afghanistan," they exult, "it is going to spread an d engulf a number of countries. ... It is going to resemble the clash of civilizations that everyone has hoped to avoid ... it is possible that the demise of some 'moderate' Arab regimes may be just round the corner." But while the little magazines and big talkers whoop it up for a war of civilizations, neither Congress nor the country is clamoring for a war on radical Arabdom or militant Islam. And a lesson from Vietnam ought especial ly to be remembered now: "Before we commit the army, commit the nation." Finally, there is a small matter of the Constitution. Congress, alone, has the power to declare war. Before launching Desert Storm, President Bush won the authorization of Congress to go to war. But this President Bush ha s not been authorized to attack nations other than Afghanistan. And the GOP chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Henry Hyde, opposes a war on Iraq, and would stop at Kabul. If the neo-conservatives want their war on Iraq or a "clash of civilizations" between the West and Islam, or, since Europe will sit it out, between the U.S.-Israel on one side, and all the rogue states on the State Depart ment list on the other, they should make the case to Congress and the country. For if there was one principle for which the Old Right stood, it was no more presidential wars. No more Koreas. No more Vietnams. No more unde clared wars. This time, let us follow the Constitution as the founding fathers intended, and let the old debate begin anew: America First vs. Global Empire. The Old Republic vs. the New World Order. And let us rediscover what it means to be a conservative. Pat Buchanan has been a senior adviser to three presidents, twice a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination and the presidential nominee of the Reform Party in 2000. During his White House years, Buchanan wrote foreign policy speeches and attended four summits, including Nixon's opening to China in 1972 and Reagan's Reykjavik summit with Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986. On leaving the White House, Buchanan became a columnist and founded three of the most enduring talk shows in TV history: "The McLaughlin Group," CNN's "Capital Gang" and "Crossfire." Buchanan has written six books, including the New York Times best-seller, "A Republic Not an Empire" and a Washington Post best-seller about growing up in the nation's capital, "Right From the Beginning." His newest book, "Death of the West" will be out in January. End<{{{ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men. Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all. Then accept it and live up to it." The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutta + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, German Writer (1759-1805) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." Universal Declaration of Human Rights + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." --- Ernest Hemingway <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
