Mendacious Meeting
. . . to Decide Iraq Policy
Bush’s clear-headed advisor number one says: Okay. We’ve got a new UN resolution putting inspectors back in Iraq. For as long as the inspectors are there looking over Saddam Hussein’s shoulder, he is not likely to be able to make further progress either in developing his weapons or in deploying those he already possesses.
Equally clear-headed advisor number two adds: So, we have a respite period in which the threat from Iraq is minimal. We should seek to lengthen that period by encouraging the UN to increase the number of inspectors and to prolong their stay.
Wise Secretary of Defense suggests: In the meanwhile, we should greatly increase our deployment in Afghanistan. If and when Osama is captured – the chances of doing so having been increased by the increased deployment – we can then return our attention to the WMD threat in Iraq.
Brilliant Secretary of State contributes: (Nodding in hopeful affirmation.) Perhaps by that time the inspection effort will have produced unmistakable evidence for the assumed WMD, changing to support some of the reticence we’re getting in Europe. Better yet, if the WMD aren’t actually there as the inspectors seem to be saying, we’ll save billions and a lot of lives.
Bush: Great thinking guys. Go for it!
Given what we now know, that the intelligence was, indeed, faulty, the above policy, had it been instituted, would have been heralded as one of the most farsighted and wise policies ever adopted by an American president. The risks associated with that decision would have been minimal compared with the risks associated with invading yet another Islamic nation (and setting a precedent for preemptive war that may in the future be used against us). In fact, the risks would have been so small, and the logic and wisdom of the suggested policy so evident, that it surely must have been the case that the invasion of Iraq was NEVER based on the assumption of a WMD threat. That threat was, as Wolfowitz said, simply the only one that would fly with the American people.
Bush’s clear-headed advisor number one says: Okay. We’ve got a new UN resolution putting inspectors back in Iraq. For as long as the inspectors are there looking over Saddam Hussein’s shoulder, he is not likely to be able to make further progress either in developing his weapons or in deploying those he already possesses.
Equally clear-headed advisor number two adds: So, we have a respite period in which the threat from Iraq is minimal. We should seek to lengthen that period by encouraging the UN to increase the number of inspectors and to prolong their stay.
Wise Secretary of Defense suggests: In the meanwhile, we should greatly increase our deployment in Afghanistan. If and when Osama is captured – the chances of doing so having been increased by the increased deployment – we can then return our attention to the WMD threat in Iraq.
Brilliant Secretary of State contributes: (Nodding in hopeful affirmation.) Perhaps by that time the inspection effort will have produced unmistakable evidence for the assumed WMD, changing to support some of the reticence we’re getting in Europe. Better yet, if the WMD aren’t actually there as the inspectors seem to be saying, we’ll save billions and a lot of lives.
Bush: Great thinking guys. Go for it!
Given what we now know, that the intelligence was, indeed, faulty, the above policy, had it been instituted, would have been heralded as one of the most farsighted and wise policies ever adopted by an American president. The risks associated with that decision would have been minimal compared with the risks associated with invading yet another Islamic nation (and setting a precedent for preemptive war that may in the future be used against us). In fact, the risks would have been so small, and the logic and wisdom of the suggested policy so evident, that it surely must have been the case that the invasion of Iraq was NEVER based on the assumption of a WMD threat. That threat was, as Wolfowitz said, simply the only one that would fly with the American people.
posted by Benedict S. at 8:55 AM
1 Comments:
Hmmmm.
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