US desperate to reassure Israel as Scud fears grow [Israel has Iraq in crosshairs]

The Scotsman | August 16, 2002 | Tim Cornwell

[crystalk]

Dear Tel Aviv, Bomb Saddam!

Mr Sharon, Tear Down Mosques from Temple Mount!

[carton253]

And that should be the goal of our foreign policy.

To serve up a nice healthy dose of fear and respect.

[mercy]

George Herbert Walker Bush is the greatest idiot to ever occupy the White House. To have left Sadam Hussien in power after fully crippling his regiem was the collosal blunder of all time. It is going to cost hundreds of thousands if not millions of lives.

[1bigdictator]

Bush Sr. does not warrant your wrath, but your wrath is warranted; it's just misplaced. The Democrats in Congress, the Coalition partners and the UN mandate specifically authorized removing Iraq from Kuwait... not Saddam's head on a stick in Bhagdad. It was short sighted by these liberal minded appeasers not to give Bush the go ahead to finish the job.

[Centurion2000]

bump

[carton253]

Big bump on that post!!!

[HELLRAISER II]

Your assessment is right, it's just not directed at who is truly responsible. The coalition of countries that we formed against Saddam would not let us finsish what we started, was it a mistake? Most definately, but Bush couldn't do anything about it. Someone reminded me yesterday on the forum of the importance of keeping ones word, whether it was from an individual or a country or both. In that case it was from both he & the U.S. that he would stop once Saddam was ousted from Saudia Arabia & Kuwait.

[1bigdictator]

< "the U.S. that he would stop once Saddam was ousted from Saudia Arabia & Kuwait."

Was Iraq ever actually in Saudi Arabia at the time or are you refering to the risk of potential invasion Iraq posed to the Saudis?

[HELLRAISER II]

My typo, sorry. I think the risk of invasion was the actual reality of the situation.

[uncbob]

If the GWII does come about I don't think Iraq wants in from TWO sources
I doubt Saddams generals want to go down in flames. They will take him out

[Spook86]

In the grand scheme of things, it only takes one chem or bio-tipped SCUD to upset the Middle East apple cart, once and for all. But a little perspective, please. According to best estimates, Saddam has no more than 24 SCUDs and Al Hussein missiles; most have been buried in the desert for the past decade, or sheltered under primitive conditions. Their operational reliability is quesitonable, at best. Additionally, Saddam has only about 5-6 mobile launchers that aren't in much better shape.

Based on numbers alone, it will be much, much more difficult. Additionally, Israel's recently-activated Arrow II missile defense system is more than capable of handling an Iraqi attack.

Finally, Saddam's #1 priority has always been regime survival. Launching a preemptive attack on Israel is tantamount to suicide. The only scenario under which Saddam would attack Israel is if he feels his regime is doomed, and he has nothing to lose.

[mlocher]

In the grand scheme of things, it only takes one chem or bio-tipped SCUD to upset the Middle East apple cart, once and for all.

agreed, sort of. personally, if it requires upsetting, let the apple cart flipping begin.

But a little perspective, please.

as i read what you were writing, i was thinking more or less along your lines.

[antivenom]

Neutron bomb will effect 3 square miles....Baghdad is 256 square miles...so 85 to 100 neutron bombs will be a great start...just carpet bomb the hell out of the place...

[ArGee]

OK, I am not an expert on foreign affairs and I don't play one on TV. However, I wonder whether the best way to depose Saddam might be for W. to go on TV and say something like:

After a careful evaluation, we've decided that Saddam Hussein is no threat to anybody except possibly the fleas on his dog. The United States has better things to do than worry about washed up old has beens who can't even shoot down an airplane with a lucky shot after over 10 years of trying. If the Iraqi's can find a real man to lead their country we might pay attention, But as long as all they've got is a tinpot dictator who abuses his own people for fun and profit, we'll focus on serious foreign policy issues.

Would the Iraqi people suffer a leader who only rates derision from the west? Would they depose him for failing to live up to the "axis of evil" moniker?

Just a thought.

Shalom.

[LadyAustin]

My understanding of what happened with the Scuds is that many of them didn't even have explosives in them, since otherwise they would have had too much weight to get the necessary range. So when they were hit by Patriots, the pieces still fell and caused damaged. Sort of like a bus falling from the sky, it doesn't matter whether there are explosives in it, it or its pieces are still going to do damage.

[ArGee]

Mr Sharon, Tear Down Mosques from Temple Mount!

Why has nobody else picked up on this obvious show of tolerance from Israel for the Moslem people? If Sharon hadn't had reason before to blast that thing to the sky he has it in spades now, yet he does not. Why? It's the heart of the two sides behind this war.

If the Arabs laid down their weapons tomorrow you would have no mor war.
If Israel laid down her weapons tomorrow you would have no more Israel.

If I were Sharon I would set up a big, highly visible, powerful looking missile launcher somewhere in Jerusalem and point the missile right at the Dome of the Rock. Then I would make an announcement that the soldier on that missile launcher has orders to shoot as soon as the next homicide bombing occurs. No delays. No questions.

And I'd cover the missile in pig fat.

I wonder what the Arabs would do?

Shalom.

[ContentiousObjector]

The Iraqi's breifly occupied Kafji, a small town on the boarder

[cake_crumb]

"If Israel is attacked by Scuds, it changes the entire equation on the US war on Iraq."

Yeh, it might make a US war on Iraq unecessary.

Saddam pays $$$ to the families of homocide bombers. The Palis are holding a pro-Iraq "demonstration" for their greatest benefactor and the best customer for their only product: terrorism today.

[MrB]

I wonder what the Arabs would do?

The jihadists are also armagedonists.
They'd view this as a golden opertunity to unite the muslim world to destroy Israel.

[Dark Wing]

ping