From: gtao@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Greg )
Subject: (was Somalia & Iraq) A follow-up.
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 15:36:26 GMT

awells@lynx.dac.northeastern.edu (Andrew V. Wells) writes:

>Bush deployed troops to Saudi Arabia, and afterward the
>UN began bowing to US demands. Member
>countries of the UN were theatened, cajoled, and bribed by the US
>into passing a resolution which said that "any country can do whatever
>it likes" in response to the gulf crisis. That is hardly an approval
>of the the aggression launched against Kuwait and Iraq.  Rather it
                                               ^^^^^^^^?
As I (and the rest of the world) recall, it was IRAQ who INVADED Kuwait.


>is the anguished cry of a UN being forced into letting the US and
>Britain do what they damn pleased.  If you still doubt that the
>attack against Iraq was a US-initiated assault 
                              ^^^^^^^^^
What you wanted to say here was U.S.-led.  The world looked to the only
superpower left in the world (that would be us, the good ol' U.S. of A.)
for leadership, and we responded.


(involving the most intensive bombing in history),

I suppose you think that cherry-bombs would have been the appropriate way to
deal with the 4th largest (at the time) army in the world?


>90% of the troops were from
>the US and Britain. There were token forces from other countries.
>But the military command structure was entirely controlled by
>the US.

I don't see why it should surprise you that OUR commanders should be the
ones commanding OUR troops.  

The "token" forces you are referring to were the Arab forces.  Remember that
Arabs don't like the idea of joining forces with Westerners to fight Arabs.
It is a tribute to the outgoing administration that we were able to solidify
such a broad concensus of what NEEDED to be done.

 
>And Hitler no doubt called the gassing of 6 million Jews "successful".
>Why don't you go to Iraq and try saying that to someone caught 
>underneath the bombs?

It is simply wrong to compare the liberating of Kuwait to the gassing of
the Jews in WWII.  If anybody could be compared to Hitler in the Gulf 
War, it would have surely been Saddam Hussien.  Please, no flames:  I am
NOT trying to compare Saddam to Hitler.


>I think strong language is a perfectly legitimate way of expressing
>anger and revulsion when common moral sensibilities are so
>hideously violated, for example, 

Yeah, for example, when a belligerant state (Iraq) invades, occupies, rapes,
and pillages a defenseless neighbor state (Kuwait).


>when people such as yourself
>self-gratuitously cheerlead for whatever aggression the 
>government undertakes. 

Sounds like you are "cheerleading" for Iraq.


>Think about this: the inescapable
>result of the Gulf "war" was

The result of the Gulf War was the expulsion of Iraq from Kuwait.
 

>the cowardly killing of 
>hundreds of thousands of defenseless innocent people.

We bombed military targets...NOT civilian targets.  I suppose your idea of
bravery is dumping oil into the gulf or setting the oil wells of Kuwait 
ablaze?


>That is the bottom line of war. Perhaps for you the bottom line
>of war is "glory," "heroism," or some other macho bullshit. That is
>a lie. And you scold me for cussing!

If you would educate yourself a little on the very nature of war, you 
would run into a fellow named Clausewitz.  In his famous work, _On War_, 
he made a statement something to the effect that moderation is absurd in
war.  His philosophy dealt with the fact that war is something that 
nobody wants to undertake, but sometimes it is the only option left.  
After our then Secretary of State, James A. Baker III, met with Tariq Aziz
for the last time, it became clear that we had no other recourse but to
resort to military action.  

 
>By the way, Schwartzkopf called the Gulf "war" a "turkey shoot."
>And he's right: 200,000 dead Iraqis, and about 100 dead US
>service people. I mourn them all. 

Just where do you get your 200,000 figure?


*******************************************************************************
* Gregory Tao                      | E-mail to:  gt38091@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu     * 
* Univ. of IL at Urbana-Champaign  |        OR      gtao@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu     *
* Department of Computer Science   |        OR      gtao@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu     *
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*                                                                             *
*  	``Change, suddenly, is everywhere we look, sweeping empires and       *
*    ideologies before it, shaping a new era even as we watch. Such moments   *
*    are rare. Today we stand at such a moment.''                             * 
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* DISCLAIMER:  My opinions do not necessarily reflect those of CCSO or the    *
*              University of Illinois.					      *
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