Hakan, I'm not sure about your point on NATO. As I understand it, NATO was set up during the cold war to stand again the Soviet block. Since the cold war is over, is it needed? I think the 'Hawks' in the U.S.A. would say that NATO wasn't very beneficial to the U.S. cause during this last Iraq war. I think they would probably say the U.S. might as well withdraw from NATO and seek bilateral agreements where they are most beneficial. I also think they would say that it is about time for the Europeans to stand on their own feet and not expect the U.S. to continue to cover for them!! Certainly the U.S. could save heaps of tax money to better spend on domestic programs if they withdrew from Germany. They could probably meet all their current needs with the air base in the UK, the naval station in Rota, Spain, and air refueling points in the Azores and Spain. Personally, I think Europe has made such strides with the common market, the common currency, and common standards, that they should strive for more independence in defense matters.
I totally agree with you that the ransacking of the museum in Bagdad is a tragedy beyond words. I also am horrified that the Iraqi National Library and Archives were burned (who was trying to cover up 30 some years of crimes??). The only thing that I can say, is that I don't think the U.S. imagined that the Iraqis would do it to themselves, and that these places needed to be defended against their own people. The looters were even ransacking their own hospitals, according to reports that I have read. I don't think anyone anticipated the level of looting. It is so against Islam to steal. I guess it is an indication of how absolutely downtrodden and destitute the people were/are. The oil fields and the oil ministry would have been seen as economic targets of the old regime which needed to be defended. So...although I agree with you that it is awful, I don't read into it some sort of hidden agenda. Swallow thinking, yes. Lack of anticipation, yes. Stubborn arrogance on the part of Rumsfield, yes. Lack of the foresight to put sufficient troops on the ground to cover unplanned needs, yes. And, relative to this last point, some of this was due to the fact that the U.S. did not open up the northern approach from Turkey due to Turkey not allowing this. This meant that the entire fourth division that would have entered from the north was still sitting on its hands in Texas. The U.S. had a very slimmed down plan as it was, and the fact that these troops didn't enter, made it very much more difficult. So...they could blow things up from the air, but not have sufficient troops on the ground to do things like protect strategic areas, to protect things like the archives and the museum. For your thoughts, Derek Hargis > > Andrew, > > I agree. > > It seems to me that the biggest challenge for the world is > if it can deal with the Iraq events in an evenhanded way. It > means that the "Coalition of the Barbarians" (referring to > the cultural education that made them protect the oil ministry > instead of the heritage of the world), should stand scrutiny > according to the Geneva convention. > > UN is now needed more than ever and NATO should be > dismantled in favor of a EU defence organization. The > world need some balance. > > Hakan > > > At 10:21 AM 4/22/2003 +0100, you wrote: > >On Fri, 18 Apr 2003 13:19:30 +0200, "Hakan Falk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > > > > > > Bush, Rumsfeld, Powell, Blair and Howard have secured a prominent place > > > in > > > the world history,... > > > >snip > > > > >..It is also a war crime, according to the Geneva convention. > > > > > > Hakan > > > > > > >I,ve seen a number of photos of dead Iraqi soldiers holding white flags. > >One of the pictures was on the front page of the UK 'Independent' > >newspaper, showing two soldiers dead in a 2-3 man dug-out trench, one > >clutching a white flag. Several US soldiers stood by the trench. > > > >None of this seems to have attracted any comment whatsoever in mainstream > >media discussion. > > > > > >Andrew Preston ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Make Money Online Auctions! Make $500.00 or We Will Give You Thirty Dollars for Trying! http://us.click.yahoo.com/yMx78A/fNtFAA/AG3JAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
