Posted on 09/06/2002 1:49:31 PM PDT by anotherview
No problem. Maybe he'll get brave enough to come out into the open. Buh-bye!
Because the syria funding comes from Iraq I am betting. One day it will be revealed that all of al-queda was/is funded by Iraq. That is just my opinion.
You should have seen the vessel I saw about a month ago leaving San Diego harbor. I guessed it at 400-450' long flush flat deck with a very small house midships, no weapons showing - in fact no protrusions at all - tall freeboard and a radical prow that can only be described ad radical fast looking - large long bulb breaking the water and severely flaired topsides at the bow. It looked like the transom was fold down to let amphib or aircushon vehicles out. It was as Buck Roger-ish a boat as I have ever seen.
Its markings were something like HSTV.....High Speed Test Vessel?? Travis - do you know what she was??
Because in order to go after Syria/Lebanon and Iran, we need Hussein out. Plus, we need Iraq as a staging ground. Understand now?
Yep, and he was convicted today for running an extacy ring and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
One answer is because of the Gulf War and Saddam's failure to live up to the terms of his surrender visa vis WMDs. Actually it seems to me we should be able to go into Iraq on the basis of the Bush doctrine, as Iraq is almost certainly harboring terrorists. Anyway, here is the "real" reason, I suspect:
Of the three main regional states sponsoring terrorism -- Iraq, Iran and Syria -- Iraq's government is the easiest to topple, and is therefore the place to start. Iraq has a narrowly supported autocracy: a single dictator with a very small constiuency sharing interest in his continued rule. This is the easiest type of government to overturn by external action, but very hard to overturn internally because the vital constituency the government depends on for support is so small and is easily controled or paid off.
Iran is the opposite, an autocratic government with (relatively) wide support among the tens of thousands of mullahs who share and benefit from the government's rule. This type of government is easier to topple internally because of the larger constituency that needs to be protected and/or paid off. Protests by prodemocracy orgs have been continuing and intensifying in Iran for a year now, so it makes good sense to wait a bit for this problem to take care of itself through revolution. Further, the liberation of Iraq is likely to provide a stimulus to the revolution in Iran, assuming it has not already occured by then.
Finally, I don't know a great deal about Syria, but the impression I have is that their military is (relatively) more professional and more loyal to the government than Saddam's is. Saddam reportedly controls his military with operatives who are personally loyal to him and who shadow the various unit commanders. IOW he can't trust the loyalty of his own officer corp. If Syria is a tougher nut to crack, it will nevertheless be easier or, alternatively, more responsive to threats or diplomatic pressure, after we have demonstrated our resolve in Iraq.
Also, don`t forget that Syria sent an armored division that helped lberate Kawait in 91.
Add: They really have no other choice. Play or pay. Thus the monarchs there have two messages, one for their "people" and the "world", and quite another for US presidents behind closed doors. Even yesterday's sortie against Iraq was launched, in part, from Saudi Arabia!
Don't forget our "friends" in Saudi Arabia, and, sadly, al-queda's network in the USA (including Saudi-sponsored mosques).
It cost over a quarter of a million dollars just to light off the boilers on the Iowa and pull away from the pier. I can think of a better platform for that dollar figure.
That's because HE could only think about one thing at a time, and ususally that was how far away he was from George Staphanopolous' sink.
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