Epiphany on Iraq motivations

[chucK]

I was driving up the mountains the other day (Tooth attempt, rebuffed by cornice), and had an epiphany about Bush's motivations for invading Iraq.

 

This has been a constant puzzle for me. The stated reasons seem to be getting debunked everyday by something new in the press. The "War for Oil" reasons just don't sit well either, probably because of some of Jay_B's strident arguments. The necessity of propping up the dollar (Iraq was threatening to base oil sales on Euro) seemed sorta reasonable and perhaps is the motive for some in Bushco, but I still wasn't totally buying it. Then it came to me...

 

Try to make a list of things that would make you want to kill someone. For me, at the very top of the list is someone kills one of my children. Right up there very close to it is, bingo, you got it, someone tries to kill my Dad.

 

I remember all these people saying, "Bush wants to avenge his Daddy. Sadam tried to kill his Dad." But I thought that all this Iraq mess couldn't possibly be because of something that petty.

 

I overlooked the obvious. It is NOT "that petty". Of all possible motives to kill someone, to subvert national policy, to stain the office of the POTUS, for me, there would only be 3 things more motivating than someone trying to kill my Dad (actually killing Dad, or attempting or succeeding in killing my kids). Making a bunch of money for myself and my political cronies totally pales in comparison. They're off the screen.

 

So there it is. Bush's motive is to get Saddam. He did it. Now he's just got to wiggle long enough to keep from getting put in jail because of it. Feign stupidity, blame his handlers, etc. It all fits.

 

From one point of view, I sorta admire it. He is risking a lot for the sake of avenging his father. That is admirable.

 

It's too bad he's had to send close to 600 US soldiers to their deaths, uncounted numbers of Iraqi's to theirs, and made us more vulnerable to terrorism than before.

 

If he really were admirable, he would now consider himself a lame duck, forget partisan political considerations and do his best to protect us from actual terrorism, and shape up the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan so we're not saddled with two Soviet-Union-style Afghanistans.

 

That's what you gotta believe if you're gonna vote for him in November. He did what he had to do. It's done, and now he's gonna try to extricate us from the mess he created in the process.

 

Do you think he's gonna?

[TurtleSoup]

Saddam was kind of like the family Rottweiler that suddenly turned on its master, Bush Sr. After extensive training on how to kill and maim outsiders, the Rott eventually got confused and attacked its handlers.

 

It was up to Bush Jr to put him down so he wouldn't hurt anyone else in the family.

[Squid]

Makes me kind of misty-eyed. It's just like Ole Yeller.

[Stefan]

It is not just that Saddam tried to kill Dubyas dad. It also has to do with these events:

 

1. Senior Bush was elected OUT of office and had only one term while Saddam remained in power. I believe there was some jealousy there.

 

2. I remember Schwarzkoppf said how "they made a mistake" meaning himself and the White House cabinet in the original war made a mistake by not demanding the ousting of Saddam Hussein in the agreements after the invasion. Senior Bush knew this mistake, so he told his son to clean up his mistake.

 

3. I do believe there have been only "FATHER" and "SON" talks about all these instances without anyone around -- not even their spouses. And it is my belief that Father told son: "If you do anything as President, get that S.O.B. Saddam" That is why Iraq has been number one on the White House agenda and always was. 9-11 just proved to be an excuse.

[TurtleSoup]

did anyone else listen to Kevin Phillips on KUOW last night?

 

http://www.kuow.org/defaultProgram.asp?ID=6590

 

http://128.208.34.102:8080/ramgen/lectures/speakers20040324.rm

[chucK]

Stefan I believe Bush Sr. wrote in his book that he didn't invade Iraq for the exact reasons that we would be in an ugly situation like we are now (occupying power over a violent unsympathetic population).

 

I am not saying Bush Jr. did this for some petty reason cause his dad was jealous, or Stormin' Norman said he made a mistake. I am saying that Bush Jr's motive is NOT petty. It is one of the best possible motives for killing someone.

 

Now whether in an absolute sense this motive is enough to inflict the suffering that he has is another question.