My final point on Iraq, 12 hours later: One glaring point jumped out at me during Powell’s speech and I am surprised I haven’t heard more about it. According to Powell himself, Saddam’s most evil deeds by far — the wholesale slaughter of the Kurds and other massacres — took place around 1988. If these deeds were so despicable and if we cite them in our litany of reasons for declaring war in 2003, does the question not arise, Why did we not take appropriate action when we had the soldiers there in 1991? Why did we not take advantage of that opportunity to eradicate the source of the evil then? How much money is going to waste by having to do the whole thing twice?
For Powell to point to a massacre of 1988 as a factor justifying Saddam’s overthrow rings somewhat hollow, considering Bush Sr. knew all about it more than a decade ago, when our troops were there and poised to attack, and then decided that toppling Saddam wasn’t important enough to risk regional instability. Why is it worth the risk now? And wasn’t Powell himself key to the decision to let Saddam be?
Again, I’m no expert, but these are the types of questions I am hearing in Asia, and I have to admit I can understand why many view the current state of affairs with skepticism and cynicism.
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