Regarding the initial letter. Of course strategic issues are involved. It never ceases to amaze me that so many people demand the issue to be oversimplified. Either it is solely for humanitarian purposes or it is solely for economic issues. Such demands will always distort what is going on.
Clearly we'd not get involved if there weren't also American interests involved. There is the whole issue of 9/11 and Islamic terrorism. Even if you don't think this will help, I think most would agree that the adminstration thinks it will. Further our economic interests are at stake in terms of mideast stability and the oil issue - not to mention the economic effects of terrorism. But on top of all that is the fact that Sadaam Hussein is an evil man. He may have been an evil we tolerated for other reasons in the past. But that doesn't make him less evil.
I think that Bush really does want mideast peace. While one can make good arguments for a certain naivete in all this, it seems odd to attack him for it all being about something else. This is hard for me to understand, I must admit.
Clearly we'd not get involved if there weren't also American interests involved. There is the whole issue of 9/11 and Islamic terrorism. Even if you don't think this will help, I think most would agree that the adminstration thinks it will. Further our economic interests are at stake in terms of mideast stability and the oil issue - not to mention the economic effects of terrorism. But on top of all that is the fact that Sadaam Hussein is an evil man. He may have been an evil we tolerated for other reasons in the past. But that doesn't make him less evil.
I think that Bush really does want mideast peace. While one can make good arguments for a certain naivete in all this, it seems odd to attack him for it all being about something else. This is hard for me to understand, I must admit.