A World Transformed

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Jocelyn Llubers

In his memoirs, "A World Transformed," written five years ago, George Bush Sr. wrote the following to explain why he didn't go after Saddam Hussein at the end of the Gulf War: "Trying to eliminate Saddam...would have incurred incalculable human and political costs.

Apprehending him was probably impossible... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq....There was no viable 'exit strategy' we could see, violating another of our principles.

Furthermore, we had been consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations'! mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."

If only Junior would have followed his dad's advice:

today Osama might have been killed or captured;
today millions and millions would not have been afraid of another attack;
today there could have been some hope in Afghanistan;
today millions and millions of Americans would feel safer;
today thousands and thousands would be alive;
today thousands and thousands would not be maimed;
today millions and millions would still admire the USA around the world;
today thousands of terrorists would not have existed;
today thousands of families would not be mourning a loved one;
today trillions in debt would not have been passed to our children and grandchildren;
today our troops would not find themselves in a quagmire;
today we would have still have many allies around the world;
today millions and millions would not be paying for the "mistakes" of a few;
today maybe the people of Iraq would have liberated themselves;
today billions of taxpayers' money would not be in the hands of Halliburton; Bechtel, Boeing, etc.

Jocelyn Llubers
Miami, Florida

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION