Paul Krugman: More War?

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" Zepp " <zepp

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 06:31:42 -0700

[Zepps_News] Krugman: More war?

 

 

 

Paul Krugman: More War?

Paul Krugman, The New York Times, April 10, 2006

 

 

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2006/04/paul_krugman_ye.html

 

 

" But he wouldn't do that. "

 

That sentiment is what made it possible for President Bush to stampede

America into the Iraq war and to fend off hard questions about the

reasons for that war until after the 2004 election. Many people just

didn't want to believe that an American president would deliberately

mislead the nation on matters of war and peace.

 

Now people with contacts in the administration and the military warn

that Mr. Bush may be planning another war. The most alarming of the

warnings come from Seymour Hersh... Writing in The New Yorker, Mr.

Hersh suggests that administration officials believe that a bombing

campaign could lead to desirable regime change in Iran — and that they

refuse to rule out the use of tactical nuclear weapons. ...

 

As it happens, rumors of a new war coincide with the emergence of

evidence that appears to confirm our worst suspicions about the war

we're already in.

 

First, it's clearer than ever that Mr. Bush, who still claims that war

with Iraq was a last resort, was actually spoiling for a fight. The

New York Times has confirmed the authenticity of a British government

memo reporting on a prewar discussion... In that conversation, Mr.

Bush told Mr. Blair that he was determined to invade Iraq even if U.N.

inspectors came up empty-handed.

 

Second, it's becoming increasingly clear that Mr. Bush knew that the

case he was presenting for war — a case that depended crucially on

visions of mushroom clouds — rested on suspect evidence. For example,

.... Mr. Bush cited Iraq's purchase of aluminum tubes as clear evidence

that Saddam was trying to acquire a nuclear arsenal. Yet Murray Waas

reports ... that Mr. Bush had been warned that many intelligence

analysts disagreed with that assessment.

 

Was the difference between Mr. Bush's public portrayal of the Iraqi

threat and the actual intelligence he saw large enough to validate

claims that he deliberately misled the nation into war? Karl Rove

apparently thought so. According to Mr. Waas, Mr. Rove " cautioned ...

that Bush's 2004 re-election prospects would be severely damaged " if

the contents of an October 2002 " President's Summary " containing

dissents about the significance of the aluminum tubes became public.

 

Now there are rumors of plans to attack Iran. Most strategic analysts

think that a bombing campaign would be a disastrous mistake. But ...

Mr. Bush ignored similar warnings, including those of his own father,

about the risks involved in invading Iraq...

 

Why might Mr. Bush want another war? For one thing, Mr. Bush, whose

presidency is increasingly defined by the quagmire in Iraq, may

believe that he can redeem himself with a new Mission Accomplished moment.

 

And it's not just Mr. Bush's legacy that's at risk. Current polls

suggest that the Democrats could take one or both houses of Congress

this November, acquiring the ability to launch investigations backed

by subpoena power. This could blow the lid off multiple Bush

administration scandals. Political analysts openly suggest that an

attack on Iran offers Mr. Bush a way to head off this danger, that an

appropriately timed military strike could change the domestic

political dynamics.

 

Does this sound far-fetched? It shouldn't. Given the combination of

recklessness and dishonesty Mr. Bush displayed in launching the Iraq

war, why should we assume that he wouldn't do it again?

 

--

 

" Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government

talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court

order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about

chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order

before we do so "

-George W. Bush, April 20, 2004

 

Not dead, in jail, or a slave? Thank a liberal!

Pay your taxes so the rich don't have to.

 

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