It’s getting to be a bit moot now, but here’s a well-reasoned article about how the option of “containment” of Iraq is not only “war by another name,” but carries with it dire costs in terms of:
- the impact on Iraqis of sanctions.
- the impact on Iraqis of maintaining the current Baghdad regime.
- the monetary cost to the US (and others) of maintaining containment forces there (significant even before the recent build-up).
- the terrorist cost to the US (it was the presence of US forces in Saudi, a direct response to previous Iraqi aggression, that was touted as a a major excuse by al Qa’eda for the 9/11 attacks)
- leaving the initiative in the Middle East with Iraq, to let their compliance, or their saber-rattling, make everyone else react.
In summary:
Morally, politically, financially, containing Iraq is one of the costliest failures in the history of American foreign policy. Containment can be tweaked — made a little less murderous, a little less dangerous, a little less futile — but the basic equations don’t change. Containing Hussein delivers civilians into the hands of a murderous psychopath, destabilizes the whole Middle East and foments anti-American terror — with no end in sight.
Now let’s see if we can do something better.
(via Both2And)
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