A Dove In The Hand

[jbor]

on 29/1/03 8:30 PM, Cyrus at cyrusgeo at netscape.net wrote:

> my argument was not "it's all too hard so let's just leave Saddam be". I
> was just trying to show that war is inevitable because the Americans
> believe "since it's impossible to find his weapons, let's attack him
> anyway, just to be sure".

You may be right about what "the Americans believe" - I don't know. I
realise that you haven't said anything about Saddam, about what he's done in
the past, about what his probable intentions are, and about whether he
should be left be: but I think that these things are central to the whole
issue and that they can't or shouldn't be ignored in any discussion of it.

Unlike you, I believe and hope that war is not inevitable. I think that's a
very pessimistic and unwarranted assertion. Ironically - or perhaps not -
the only people saying that war is inevitable with any real vigour at the
moment are the anti-Bushies and Saddam.

> Now, I'm against war on principle, but I can't
> jugde this course of action without resorting to the realm of conspiracy
> theories, which I enjoy very much, but only as fiction. On the other
> hand, as I said, I'm against war, on principle.
> 
> By the way, was there ever a time when American forces were not engaged
> in some war or other around the globe?

Yes, of course. But do see

http://zmag.org/CrisesCurEvts/interventions.htm

best