12-15-2005, 06:08 AM
kandrathe,Dec 14 2005, 08:30 PM Wrote:In hindsight, it was really stupid to befriend a madman like Saddam.
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No it wasn't. The anti American power in the Persian Gulf was Iran. The US had, during the Cold War, made common cause with any number of unsavory governments in the general war against the Soviet Imperium, so it would not be illogical to get in bed (politics make strange bedfellows) with Saddam if he was giving Iran the red ass.
What was idiotic was giving him the green light in 1990, or not giving him the red light in 1990. There are many articles written about how ambivelent and vague the warning were that the US Ambassador to Iraq gave to Saddam in July of 2000 when our intel showed him positioning his forces, yet again, to saber rattle vis a vis Kuwait, yet again.
What is remarkable to me was Saddam's complete inability to read and guage two men: George Bush and his son. He completely outfoxed himself in dealing with them both.
Occhi
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete