[Culturechat] Glasgow Herald--Fascinating Behind the Scenes Account of EU...

[WesTexas@aol.com]

 "Some day, some way, I guarantee you, he'll use the arsenal." 
 by Stephen F. Hayes 
 
THE PRESIDENT mulls a strike against Iraq, which he calls an "outlaw nation" 
in league with an "unholy axis of terrorists, drug traffickers and organized 
international criminals." The talk among world leaders, however, focuses on 
diplomacy. France, Russia, China, and most Arab nations oppose military 
action. The Saudis balk at giving us overflight rights. U.N. secretary 
general Kofi Annan prepares a last-ditch attempt to convince Saddam Hussein 
to abide by the U.N. resolutions he agreed to at the end of the Gulf War. 

Administration rhetoric could hardly be stronger. The president asks the 
nation to consider this question: What if Saddam Hussein  "fails to comply, 
and we fail to act, or we take some ambiguous third route which gives him yet 
more opportunities to develop his program of weapons of mass destruction and 
continue to press for the release of the sanctions and continue to ignore the 
solemn commitments that he made? Well, he will conclude that the 
international community has lost its will. He will then conclude that he can 
go right on and do more to rebuild an arsenal of devastating destruction." 

The president's warnings are firm. "If we fail to respond today, Saddam and 
all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow." The 
stakes, he says, could not be higher. "Some day, some way, I guarantee you, 
he'll use the arsenal." 

These are the words not of President George W. Bush in September 2002 but of 
President Bill Clinton on February 18, 1998. Clinton was speaking at the 
Pentagon, after the Joint Chiefs and other top national security advisers had 
briefed him on U.S. military readiness. The televised speech followed a 
month-long build-up of U.S. troops and equipment in the Persian Gulf. And it 
won applause from leading Democrats on Capitol Hill. 

But just five days later, Kofi Annan struck yet another "deal" with the Iraqi 
dictator--which once more gave U.N. inspectors permission to inspect--and 
Saddam won again.