> A question to the list:
>
> Attacking Iraq makes little sense from the point of view of "war on
> terrorism" - since Iraq is almost certainly not involved in sponsoring
> terrorism. The question thus remains, why Bush and his entourage pursue
it?
>
> The "wag the dog" explanations (e.g. vendetta, mobilizing popular support
> to win the November election) do not seem very convincing.
>
> One possibility is that Iraq is merely a diversion, and the real targets
> are Saudi Arabia and Iran. Attacking these countries makes perfect sense
> from the point of view of "war on terrorism" because these countries are
> main sponsors of terrorist networks. Any thoughts?
>
> wojtek
----------------
I agree that "wag the dog" explanations don't seem convincing, though Bush's planners undoubtedly take domestic and political considerations into account in their calculations. With respect to SA and Iran, I don't think that the Bush regime actually intends to attack those countries. Perhaps, since the U.S. President's entourage is clearly unhappy with both, they hope that making war on Iraq will overawe their "ally" SA and their "enemy" Iran. They must be gambling that Saddam is weak and will fall quickly under attack from the US and its satraps, with relatively low costs to the Empire. They could be badly mistaken in this. They also seem to have given little thought to what will succeed Saddam if their strategy is successful. It probably doesn't concern them much, so long as the oil continues to flow. In any case, it is clear that Bush and his advisors are every bit as reckless and dangerous as Kaiser Wilhelm and his fawning court.
Maybe they will succeed, but maybe they will march the US into a quagmire which will make Vietnam look like a tea party. They think they can do this with 50,000 "Special Forces," air support, and Iraqi opposition? We'll see. They may instead need 250,000 troops and more; they may need a draft. They may go into it thinking that it's Gulf War II, and get Vietnam II instead. If it's the latter, the US Left should be prepared to give them their Vietnam.
Jacob Conrad