February 5, 2004

Still More Politics
Everett

RaggedyAnndy, first of all, I'm sure that the UK, Poland, Spain, Australia, and the rest of the countries who have contributed miltraily and materially to the efforts in Iraq would be proud to be reffered to as no one. But that's beside the point. I never claimed that countries opposed to the invasion of Iraq lacked a good reason to do so. A nation's foereign policy is determined first and foremost by what it deems to be in its vital national interest. To say that the United States was justified in going to war is not to say that nations like France, Germany, Russia, and China, among others, had no legitimate reason to oppose it. In fact, just the opposite is true. They all had legitimate geo-political and economic reasons for opposing the invasion. The United States had legitimate reasons for invading Iraq (e.g. self-defense), and the nations supporting the invasion felt it was in their best interest to support it.

As to your second point, it's not quite accurate. Seeking the overthrow of Saddam Hussein had been the official policy of the United States since 1998. Obviously, one of the means of accomplishing this would be through military invasion. Therefore, it would be more than sensible for the Bush administration to make contingency plans for an invasion should circumstances arise which called for an invasion.

Regarding your final point, I can only hope you're being clever. The renaming of French fries as diplomatic bullying pales in comparison to threatening to block the entry into the European Union of those countries supporting the efforts of the United States. It also stands in sharp contrast to Colin Powell making concession after concession to France, Germany, et al, in an attempt to get them on board with the military effort, going so far as to allow the requirement of a second resolution to authorize military action if Iraq was found to be in material breach of Resolution 1441.

If you, or anyone else would like to discuss this further, I'm up for doing it in the Forum, though others may be against it. If you don't want to discuss it in the Forum, you're more than welcome to drop me an e-mail at vandagri@msu.edu.