"But the world isn't like that"

[pynchonoid]

Consider this:  Bush's Middle East envoy wonders what
planet the war hawks are living on.


http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/10/17/zinni/print.html

"I'm not sure which planet they live on"
Hawks in the Bush administration may be making deadly
miscalculations on Iraq, says Gen. Anthony Zinni,
Bush's Middle East envoy.

"[...] I'm not convinced we need to do this now. I am
convinced that we need to deal with Saddam down the
road, but I think that the time is difficult because
of the conditions in the region and all the other
events that are going on. I believe that he can be
deterred and is containable at this moment. As a
matter of fact, I think the containment can be
ratcheted up in a way that is acceptable to everybody.


I do think eventually Saddam has to be dealt with.
That could happen in many ways. It could happen that
he just withers on the vine, he passes on to the
afterlife, something happens within Iraq that changes
things, he becomes less powerful, or the inspectors
that go in actually accomplish something and eliminate
potential weapons of mass destruction -- but I doubt
this -- that might be there. 

The question becomes how to sort out your priorities
and deal with them in a smart way that you get things
done that need to be done first before you move on to
things that are second and third. If I were to give
you my priority of things that can change for the
better in this region, it is first and foremost the
Middle East peace process and getting it back on
track. Second, it is ensuring that Iran's reformation
or moderation continues on track and trying to help
and support the people who are trying to make that
change in the best way we can. That's going to take a
lot of intelligence and careful work. 

The third is to make sure those countries to which we
have now committed ourselves to change, like
Afghanistan and those in Central Asia, we invest what
we need to in the way of resources there to make that
change happen. Fourth is to patch up these
relationships that have become strained, and fifth is
to reconnect to the people. We are talking past each
other. The dialogue is heated. We have based this in
things that are tough to compromise on, like religion
and politics, and we need to reconnect in a different
way. I would take those priorities before this one. 

My personal view, and this is just personal, is that I
think this isn't No. 1. It's maybe six or seven, and
the affordability line may be drawn around five. 
[...] "






--- Terrance <lycidas2 at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> 
> Consider This: Clinton’s chief Iraq expert announces
> his reluctant
> belief that an
> invasion is needed.
> 
> The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq" 
> by Kenneth Pollack 
> 
> http://middleeastinfo.org/article1482.html
> 
>
http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/terror/02101600.htm


=====
<http://www.pynchonoid.blogspot.com/>

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Y! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your web site
http://webhosting.yahoo.com/