NP War and Wisdom

[Tim Strzechowski]

War and Wisdom

February 7, 2003
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF 


President Bush and Colin Powell have adroitly shown that Iraq is hiding weapons, that Saddam Hussein is a lying scoundrel and that Iraqi officials should be less chatty on the telephone. 

But they did not demonstrate that the solution is to invade Iraq. 

If you've seen kids torn apart by machine-gun fire, you know that war should be only a last resort. And we're not there yet. We still have a better option: containment. 

That's why in the Pentagon, civilian leaders are gung-ho but many in uniform are leery. Former generals like Norman Schwarzkopf, Anthony Zinni and Wesley Clark have all expressed concern about the rush to war. 

"Candidly, I have gotten somewhat nervous at some of the pronouncements Rumsfeld has made," General Schwarzkopf told The Washington Post, adding: "I think it is very important for us to wait and see what the inspectors come up with." (The White House has apparently launched a post-emptive strike on General Schwarzkopf, for he now refuses interviews.) 

[...]



Read the rest:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/07/opinion/07KRIS.html?ex=1045627615&ei=1&en=ca338d7cae6147a1




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"If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going."
                                       ~~ Professor Irwin Corey
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