From a netfriend:

The reason I support going to war in Iraq is not simply that Saddam is a cutthroat Stalinist willing to kill anyone to stay in power, nor because that regime has clearly supported terrorist networks over the years. The real reason I support a war like this is that the resulting long-term military commitment will finally force America to deal with the entire Gap as a strategic threat environment.

http://www.nwc.navy.mil/newrulesets/ThePentagonsNewMap.htm

on the other hand …

George Bush recently spoke at the American Enterprise Institute about what a post-war Iraq would look like. According to Cato Institute senior fellow Doug Bandow, Bush seemed a tad too optimistic about a U.S.-enforced, Saddamless Iraq — especially considering recent jaunts into places like Bosnia, Kosovo and Haiti. Bandow’s response to the president’s comments:

President George W. Bush’s speech on Iraq is significant mostly because it reveals that he long ago made a decision for war and has always viewed the inspection process as an impediment to war to be overcome rather than a means to avoid war. War was always his first option. The president paints a positive picture of post-war Iraq that is likely to prove wildly optimistic. Iraq has neither the democratic heritage, ethnic unity, nor geopolitical stability of Germany and Japan, America’s last successful episodes in nation-building. More relevant are the disappointing experiences in Bosnia, an artificial nation still no closer to unity after seven years of Western military occupation, as well as Haiti, Kosovo and Somalia. Bringing order in Iraq to antagonistic Baathists, Kurds, Shiites, and returning émigrés would be extraordinarily difficult even without pressure from neighboring Iran and Turkey. Unfortunately, the occupation is almost certain to remain long and costly, with tens or hundreds of thousands of troops on station for years, all the while serving as a tempting target for al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.

and see http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-bandow081202.asp

and http://www.cato.org/dailys/11-18-02.html

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