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CounterPunch
February
15, 2003
Anybody Remember the Powell
Doctrine?
Colin...Read
Your White Paper
By RICH PROCTER
Anybody remember the 90's? Rember our "Long
National Nightmare of Peace and Prosperity," when pundits
loved to bash Bill Clinton's foreign policy by citing "the
Powell Doctrine"? This was the Doctrine that was going to
keep us from entangling ourselves in another Vietnam. Haven't
heard much about the "Powell Doctrine" recently, especially
from its author, Colin Powell. I believe Mr. Powell is too busy
wielding his awesome "street cred" to prop up the Bushies
"War Right This Very Second!!!" program.
Just for the heck of it, why don't we
examine the Powell Doctrine, and see how it applies to the invasion...er,
that is the "liberation" of Iraq. Powell said that
six questions MUST be answered before US forces could be committed
to combat abroad. Locked, loaded and cocked? Here we go...
1) Is A Vital US Interest At Stake? --
Is Saddam massing troops on his borders, threatening one of our
allies? No. Has he developed weapons of mass destruction that
he might use on Israel or Kuwait? Not that the UN has discovered.
Is he acting belligerent toward our friends? Ahhhhhh...no. So
the Powell Doctrine votes "NO" on number one.
2) Will We Commit Sufficient Resources
To Win? Yes, I know the plan is to rain terror from the sky on
Iraq with hundreds of smart bombs in a Dresden-like campaign
of horror and demoralization. The hope is that Saddam will realize
we mean business, and he'll give up, and Bush II will have a
nice, short, low (US) casualty, telegenic war ending in high-fives
all around and a swell coffee table book, available for a $500
donation to the RNC. But most (non-Bush) experts believe there's
an excellent chance the war will get bogged down in block-by-block
fighting in Baghdad, where smart bombs are useless and it's pretty
much M-16 versus AK-47. This could lead to a long, nasty, bloody
war -- and this is NOT the war Bush is selling the American people.
The answer to this is a conditonal "Yes, but..." as
in yes, but when Bush's popularity goes below 30%, look for a
quick "declaration of victory" and let's get the hell
out of there no matter what the circumstance.
3) Are Our Objectives Clearly Defined?
Well, kinda sorta. We want to find and destroy their weapons...if
they have any. We want to destroy Saddam...unless he agrees to
go into exile. We want Iraq to become a new bastion of Democracy
in the Middle East...but Islamic extremists might capture free
elections, so that won't happen in our lifetime. We want to "safeguard"
their oil fields (Bwaa Haa Haa!) The Defense Department clearly
wants to kick Saddam's ass and scram. The State Department wants
us to stick around a few decades to re-make the Middle East as
a vassal state of the Republican Party. So the answer to #3 is
no.
4) Will We Sustain the Commitment? See
#2. Bush begins running for re-election next summer. Most likely,
the economy will still be in the dumper. If the evening news
is a montage of stacked body bags, gleeful al-Jazeera bin Laden
tapes and "concerned Defense Officials" looking everywhere
for the "light at the end of the tunnel," the answer
is an emphatic NO.
5) Is There A Reasonable Expectation
that the Public and Congress Will Support the Operation? Bush
is clearly promising the American public "War Lite"
-- a hailstorm of smart bombs, a lightning troop sweep, and a
Victory Parade featuring the Grateful Iraqui Public welcoming
their Liberators. If the war lasts longer than a month and we
seem to be bogging down, expect public support to plummet. And
since every Congressman and 1/3 of our Senators are running for
re-election next year, expect them to run for cover. An resounding
NO on this one.
6) Have we exhausted our other options?
The only folks who believe we've exhausted our options are the
Bushies. The UN doesn't believe it. The Pope doesn't believe
it. Our NATO allies don't believe it. Most of the public doesn't
believe it. Bush says he believes it, but he can't seem to muster
the proof, beyond some fuzzy photographs and some ginned up "evidence"
designed to keep the true believers in line. NO to this one.
So there you have it, sports fans. Five
NOs and one "Yes, but..." Ouch! If Colin were taking
this test at a State University, his grade would be "F --
See Me." Of course, Colin Powell will never be grilled on
applying his own Doctrine, because the "liberal" press
won't bring it up. And the man who created a Doctrine designed
to insure that America would never suffer another Vietnam will
go along with Bush to plunge America into a war based on an elaborate
web of deliberate lies (like Vietnam), with squishy public support
(like Vietnam), creating what could turn into a catastrophic
debacle with huge loss of life (like Vietnam).
Mr. Powell seems to have misplaced his
own Doctrine. Would somebody please give him a copy before it's
too late?
Rich Procter
can be reached at planetniner@yahoo.com
Yesterday's
Features
CounterPunch News Service
Slow
Lerner: It May Not Help Kids in Iraq, But It Sure Got Michael
Lerner Airtime
Andrew Murray
Tony
Blair Versus the British People
Ben Tripp
President
A**hole
Peggy Thomson
My
Close Encounter with Saddam
Gary Leupp
Meet Mr. Blowback:
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, CIA Op and Homicidal Thug
Saul Landau
Bush and Corporate Fraud
Adam Engel
A Civilian Occupation:
The Politics of Israeli Architecture
Anthony Gancarski
Jacksonville in Crisis
Rick Giombetti
Specific Threats to Democracy
Jean-David Levitte
A Warning on Iraq from France:
Make War the Last Option
Ian Gurney
Whose Side is Bush On?
Maria Engqvist
Did
the FARC Shoot Down a US Military Plane in Colombia?
Ron Jacobs
This Madness Must Cease
Josh Frank
Call to Washington:
Stonewall Bush
Website of the Day
Rock
Out Against War
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