Blogs by Robert M. Liu
A Message to Lawrance G. Lux
8/20/2003 8:13:43 PM
Originally posted at Roundtable as a reply to Lawrance G. Lux's comments, this short note touches on the situation in Iraq and Saddam Hussein's psychology.
Hi, LGL:
Just as I lack the training to verify your numerous "economic estimates", I lack the training to verify your "intelligence assessments", which, frankly, read like disinformation to me. I rely on major news organizations for information and hesitate to swallow anything whose reliability has yet to be verified.
Having said that, I do believe there must be people out there who'd willingly accept your "estimates" and "assessments" as absolutely authentic and perfectly gratifying because their political ideology requires them to seek exactly the kind of "estimates" and "assessments" you provide.
What I know is that after his defeat in the 1991 Gulf War, Saddam Hussein began to hate former U.S. president George H. W. Bush so much that he sent somebody to make an attempt on his life and paved the lobby of a Baghdad hotel with the former U.S. president's picture.
Saddam Hussein apparently believed that if people kept trampling the picture, bad luck would fall on the former U.S. president. That sounds like a laughably sick mind -- the kind of mind that a psychopath would have.
Yet, the political left seems to say that a man with a psychopathic mind, plus huge financial resources, WMD programs, ties with terror groups, and evil intentions toward the U.S. like Saddam Hussein should be left to his own devices.
James Bond (007) may find such a proposition objectionable, because even he wouldn't be able to predict what a man like Saddam Hussein will or will not do. But the political left seems to believe that it can predict such a man's behavior. The thing is if the political left is that smart, it should have predicted 9/11.
Right now, U.S. troops in Iraq face difficulties. But that is exactly why they are there and why they should stay there. If there were no difficulties, they should be back home enjoying summer holidays with their families.
The situation in Iraq is difficult because terrorism is there. Those who call for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq are actually calling for America to flee a battlefield in the global war on terrorism. They are the same people who believe fighting terrorism is "wrong" in the first place.
There will be a time for U.S. troops to leave, but they must eliminate the terrorists there first. Now it's up to the generals and their colleagues in the intelligence community to craft a proper and effective way to achieve that goal.
The United States must maintain its dominance in the Middle Eastern region and win the war on terror, if the civilized world is to enjoy peace and stability for the coming decades. Any retreat from Iraq would send the wrong signal to the wrong people, and the consequences would be serious and unpredictable.
Sincerely,
Robert M. Liu
Post a Comment
More Blogs by Robert M. Liu
• The Crisis of Opioid, Fentanyl, Cocaine etc. - But Who Is to Blame? - Sunday, September 1, 2019
• Tariffs v Free Market - Sunday, May 19, 2019
• Winners and Losers - Monday, April 22, 2019
• The Resistance Movement - Sunday, September 2, 2018
• Takeaways from Adam Smith's - Friday, November 17, 2017
• A Special Invitation from Donald Trump - Tuesday, July 28, 2015
• A Man Is Known by the Company He Keeps - Thursday, October 9, 2008
• A Simple Quick Fix for the Crisis - Thursday, October 9, 2008
• A Commentary on Issues of Current Interest - Sunday, December 2, 2007
• A Bit of History to Illustrate the Consequences of Treaty Breaches - Sunday, November 5, 2006
• A Couple of Historical Parallels and Other Issues - Thursday, November 2, 2006
• A Debate Plus a Dilemma - Saturday, December 10, 2005
• A Tale of Two Sides - Thursday, November 10, 2005
• A Bit of History to Illustrate the Role of China's Military - Sunday, October 9, 2005
• An Anachronistic System - Thursday, September 8, 2005
• Is President Hu Jintao in Control? - Tuesday, August 9, 2005
• If I Were a Unocal Shareholder... - Thursday, July 7, 2005
• China and North Korea - Tuesday, June 7, 2005
• A Culture of Obstructionism - Tuesday, April 5, 2005
• American Capitalism - Monday, March 7, 2005
• Another Turn for the Better - Tuesday, February 8, 2005
• A Set of Interesting Historical Parallels - Saturday, November 13, 2004
• A Shamelessly Sophistic Debating Technique - Monday, October 11, 2004
• A Campaign in Disarray? Probably -- Plus Campaign Issues - Monday, September 13, 2004
• A Campaign of Tortured Arguments - Tuesday, August 10, 2004
• Does It Add Up? - Monday, July 12, 2004
• A Turn for the Better - Saturday, June 12, 2004
• Amazing Poll Results - Monday, May 10, 2004
• Voodoo Politics - Tuesday, April 6, 2004
• Ambivalent Mind Set - Thursday, March 11, 2004
• A Message to Lawrance G. Lux - Friday, February 27, 2004
• A Message to Lawrance G. Lux - Friday, February 27, 2004
• A Message to Lawrance G. Lux - Friday, February 27, 2004
• Al Gore's Judgement and Luck - Sunday, February 8, 2004
• Strategies and Schemes - Wednesday, December 31, 2003
• A Message to Lawrance G. Lux - Tuesday, December 9, 2003
• Communist China and Free China - Saturday, December 6, 2003
• The Role of the United Nations - Friday, November 28, 2003
• American Dominance - Sunday, November 16, 2003
• Snippets - Sunday, October 5, 2003
• Snippets - Monday, September 22, 2003
• Snippets - Sunday, September 14, 2003
• Snippets - Sunday, September 7, 2003
• A Message to Lawrance G. Lux - Thursday, August 28, 2003
• A Message to Claywoman - Wednesday, August 27, 2003
• A Message to Lawrance G. Lux - Monday, August 25, 2003
• Snippets - Sunday, August 24, 2003
• A Message to Lawrance G. Lux - Wednesday, August 20, 2003
• Snippets - Wednesday, August 20, 2003
• A Message to Lawrance G. Lux - Wednesday, July 30, 2003
• A Message to Lawrance G. Lux - Sunday, July 27, 2003
• A Message to Claywoman - Friday, July 25, 2003
• A Message to Lawrance G. Lux - Thursday, July 24, 2003
• Snippets - Monday, July 21, 2003
• A Message to Lawrance G. Lux - Wednesday, July 16, 2003
• A Message to Lawrance G. Lux - Tuesday, July 15, 2003
• Snippets - Sunday, July 13, 2003
• Snippets - Sunday, July 13, 2003
• A Message to Lawrance G. Lux - Sunday, July 13, 2003
• A Message to Lawrance G. Lux - Saturday, July 12, 2003
|
