A Coup

Well there's a new plan being put forward, primarily by Saudi Arabia and Egypt. In it, Saddam Hussein leaves Iraq for sunny Tripoli or someplace else, for an extended vacation. The US has supported the plan, seeing as it fulfills their request for a regime change without the expense of a war.

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. opposes this plan. Calling it a coup, he says that it will just bring the next man to the top of the list. And anybody who's served in Saddam's Iraq is tainted, and probably evil. He basically assumes that if we put someone new in, we are going to do it sight unseen. While surely the Saudi's might like such a plan, the US isn't going to do that. Anybody who takes over will have to follow a more peaceful line, and accept the continued presence of UN inspectors.

He argues that accepting a coup will have betray the Iraqi people. ". . . we would lose not only the opportunity to free one of the most industrious and capable populations in the Middle East, perhaps transforming Iraq into a prosperous and peace-loving nation. We would also squander the chance to create a model for bringing real democracy and economic opportunity to a region desperately in need of both."

Oh how I wish I could believe that the long term goals of the United States involved helping the Iraqi People. I would be one hundred percent behind this war if that were the case. But we know that that's not true. President Bush has made his feelings on nation building clear, during the Presidential debates. ". . . .we can’t be all things to all people in the world. I am worried about over-committing our military around the world. I want to be judicious in its use. I don’t think nation-building missions are worthwhile."