T
the patriot
Guest
February 25, 2001
Rogue regimes get Dubya‘s message
By PETER WORTHINGTON -- Toronto Sun
The surprise air strike against missile sites near Baghdad may be the shrewdest gesture new President George Bush could have made to assure something resembling "peace" for America.
The U.S./British strike against Iraq - the first since the fall of 1998 - caught everyone by surprise. Debate now revolves around whether this is President Dubya continuing the previous Clinton policy of erratic containment, or a return to his daddy‘s more aggressive policy toward Saddam Hussein.
While of questionable military value, the attack sets a tone for the new administration, and will probably dissuade other enemies of America from "testing" the new, underrated president.
When a new administration takes over in the U.S., it‘s almost traditional that it be tested, or probed by regimes and elements that wish it ill and seek to exploit weakness.
When Jack Kennedy took over as president, wily old Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev badly misjudged him as being weak and pliable.
When Kennedy bumbled over the Bay of Pigs, Khrushchev put missiles in Cuba, which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war - now immortalized in the movie Thirteen Days.
Kennedy proved tougher than Khrushchev anticipated.
History has forgotten that a lot of other things were festering in Kennedy‘s early days. Simultaneous to the Cuban missile crisis, China launched a border war against India in the North East Frontier - I was there, and it was a disaster for the Indian Army and threatened India‘s democracy.
Also, the Vietnam war was escalating. The CIA endorsed the assassination of President Diem; Indonesia was at war with the Netherlands over Dutch New Guinea. In Africa, the Congo was in chaos, Katanga was violently denied independence by Indian troops acting for the UN, Algeria was in a war for independence from France while the French Army was dabbling with mutiny.
It was a volatile, unstable world in the early 1960s.
When Richard Nixon came in as president, his undeserved reputation as a "hawk" dissuaded aggressive overtures against America; he was even able to restore relations with China without provoking hysteria among anti-communists at home.
Jimmy tested
When Jimmy Carter succeeded Gerald Ford, who had replaced the discredited and despised Nixon, the world‘s bad guys took heart and began testing him and America, and found both wanting.
The Iran hostage incident destroyed Carter, damaged America and threatened world security. An American rescue attempt was a fiasco.
The USSR rampaged in Africa - via military "advisers" and a surrogate army of Cuban troops fighting in Angola, Mozambique and Ethiopia. Mischief was unopposed, and was subverting Latin America.
The election of Ronald Reagan genuinely alarmed much of the world - even as it reassured those with sense and nerve.
Depicted by foes and the media as a grade-B movie actor and something of a mad bomber with a room temperature IQ bent on mass destruction, it‘s understandable why Reagan worried some observers.
No rogue regime dared "test" Reagan for fear he‘d react. As a consequence, the world settled down to mere rhetoric as Reagan rebuilt America‘s depleted military and wounded prestige. He restored pride and confidence in America, got the hostages back safely from Iran, introduced his "star wars" space defence concept that bankrupted the competing USSR and brought down the Berlin Wall.
Maggie‘s resolve
George Bush the Elder was a cinch for re-election after the Gulf war, but blew it by not taking out Saddam Hussein. Mercifully, Bush had Margaret Thatcher in power in Britain to give him resolve.
But by the end of the Gulf war, she was gone - bounced not by the British people, but by the damnfool Conservative party, which has been wimpish ever since. The result in Britain is Tony Blair, soulmate to Bill Clinton, ensuring foolish, unnecessary, destructive violence in the Balkans.
Daddy Bush‘s demise after Mrs. Thatcher resulted in Bill Clinton who, in order to divert attention from domestic problems like Monica, Kathleen, Juanita, etc., bombed aspirin factories in Sudan and desert camps in Afghanistan in order to curb terrorist acts in Kenya and Tanzania. You figure it out.
Meanwhile, Saddam Hussein, whom U.S. intelligence agencies figured would be overthrown six weeks after the Gulf war, continues to thrive.
Bush‘s air attack won‘t hurt Iraq, but the message is unmistakable to Saddam and other regimes that may contemplate tweaking young Dubya‘s resolve. Bush may not be familiar with all the names on the world‘s stage, but he‘s got competent people around him who are loaded with experience.
Whatever else, the air attack on Iraq can be seen as a preemptive strike to forestall planned terrorist acts or violence against America‘s interests. Aggressors be warned.
**********************************************************************
-the patriot-
Rogue regimes get Dubya‘s message
By PETER WORTHINGTON -- Toronto Sun
The surprise air strike against missile sites near Baghdad may be the shrewdest gesture new President George Bush could have made to assure something resembling "peace" for America.
The U.S./British strike against Iraq - the first since the fall of 1998 - caught everyone by surprise. Debate now revolves around whether this is President Dubya continuing the previous Clinton policy of erratic containment, or a return to his daddy‘s more aggressive policy toward Saddam Hussein.
While of questionable military value, the attack sets a tone for the new administration, and will probably dissuade other enemies of America from "testing" the new, underrated president.
When a new administration takes over in the U.S., it‘s almost traditional that it be tested, or probed by regimes and elements that wish it ill and seek to exploit weakness.
When Jack Kennedy took over as president, wily old Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev badly misjudged him as being weak and pliable.
When Kennedy bumbled over the Bay of Pigs, Khrushchev put missiles in Cuba, which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war - now immortalized in the movie Thirteen Days.
Kennedy proved tougher than Khrushchev anticipated.
History has forgotten that a lot of other things were festering in Kennedy‘s early days. Simultaneous to the Cuban missile crisis, China launched a border war against India in the North East Frontier - I was there, and it was a disaster for the Indian Army and threatened India‘s democracy.
Also, the Vietnam war was escalating. The CIA endorsed the assassination of President Diem; Indonesia was at war with the Netherlands over Dutch New Guinea. In Africa, the Congo was in chaos, Katanga was violently denied independence by Indian troops acting for the UN, Algeria was in a war for independence from France while the French Army was dabbling with mutiny.
It was a volatile, unstable world in the early 1960s.
When Richard Nixon came in as president, his undeserved reputation as a "hawk" dissuaded aggressive overtures against America; he was even able to restore relations with China without provoking hysteria among anti-communists at home.
Jimmy tested
When Jimmy Carter succeeded Gerald Ford, who had replaced the discredited and despised Nixon, the world‘s bad guys took heart and began testing him and America, and found both wanting.
The Iran hostage incident destroyed Carter, damaged America and threatened world security. An American rescue attempt was a fiasco.
The USSR rampaged in Africa - via military "advisers" and a surrogate army of Cuban troops fighting in Angola, Mozambique and Ethiopia. Mischief was unopposed, and was subverting Latin America.
The election of Ronald Reagan genuinely alarmed much of the world - even as it reassured those with sense and nerve.
Depicted by foes and the media as a grade-B movie actor and something of a mad bomber with a room temperature IQ bent on mass destruction, it‘s understandable why Reagan worried some observers.
No rogue regime dared "test" Reagan for fear he‘d react. As a consequence, the world settled down to mere rhetoric as Reagan rebuilt America‘s depleted military and wounded prestige. He restored pride and confidence in America, got the hostages back safely from Iran, introduced his "star wars" space defence concept that bankrupted the competing USSR and brought down the Berlin Wall.
Maggie‘s resolve
George Bush the Elder was a cinch for re-election after the Gulf war, but blew it by not taking out Saddam Hussein. Mercifully, Bush had Margaret Thatcher in power in Britain to give him resolve.
But by the end of the Gulf war, she was gone - bounced not by the British people, but by the damnfool Conservative party, which has been wimpish ever since. The result in Britain is Tony Blair, soulmate to Bill Clinton, ensuring foolish, unnecessary, destructive violence in the Balkans.
Daddy Bush‘s demise after Mrs. Thatcher resulted in Bill Clinton who, in order to divert attention from domestic problems like Monica, Kathleen, Juanita, etc., bombed aspirin factories in Sudan and desert camps in Afghanistan in order to curb terrorist acts in Kenya and Tanzania. You figure it out.
Meanwhile, Saddam Hussein, whom U.S. intelligence agencies figured would be overthrown six weeks after the Gulf war, continues to thrive.
Bush‘s air attack won‘t hurt Iraq, but the message is unmistakable to Saddam and other regimes that may contemplate tweaking young Dubya‘s resolve. Bush may not be familiar with all the names on the world‘s stage, but he‘s got competent people around him who are loaded with experience.
Whatever else, the air attack on Iraq can be seen as a preemptive strike to forestall planned terrorist acts or violence against America‘s interests. Aggressors be warned.
**********************************************************************
-the patriot-
