February 04, 2003
Cold Feet?
A few weeks ago, I speculated that the reason the Bush Administration had offered immunity from war crimes prosecution to Saddam Hussein if he would go into exile was that it might be trying to find a face-saving way to get out of undertaking a politically unpopular and militarily risky war in Iraq.
Since that time, the bickering between "old Europe" and Washington commenced, Schwarzkopf warned against going to war, the Dow hit new lows on fear of war, the UN inspectors gave not-perfect but not-damning reports on their progress, Bush tried unsuccessfully to rally the World to war, and the Bush Administration renewed its hysterical attempt to link bin Laden and Hussein, only to be undermined by "senior intelligence officials".
After all of which, the Bush Administration again displayed its rigid adherence to principle in offering to help facilitate the easing of Saddam into exile.
What in the Sam-Hell is going on here? Bush the elder's Adminstration shot down several promising proposals to effect a negotiated settlement to the 1990 Gulf crisis, so determined was it to have its war. There's no reason to believe, especially given the flimsy and hypocritical pretext upon which its case for war is built, that the current Administration desires anything less. So why is it seemingly trying to avoid war?
Colin Powell is downplaying the nature of the so-called evidence to be presented to the UN tomorrow. So what happens if the World remains unconvinced of the need for war? If another floating of the Saddam exile-with-immunity offer ensues, we'll know something's up.
Posted by Eddie Tews at February 4, 2003 08:15 PM
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