On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 12:55:52 +0200, "Emmanuel Gustin"
wrote:

"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...

Because his dimwit father did?

Bush senior hardly "attacked the wrong country." He enforced
international law by forcing Iraq out of Kuwait after Saddam
had committed an act of unprovoked agression against a
neighbouring coutnry, with the plain intent of robbing its
wealth -- it has been called the largest bank robbery in history.
By any reasonable standard, that was not only entirely justified,
but absolutely necessary. It was an action supported by the UN
and by America's allies.

Bush junior had no such justification for his war. But then, Bush
Sr. was one of the better presidents the USA had in this century,
while Bush Jr. may be the worst the USA has ever had.

With all due and reasonable respect and recognizing your long
attendance in RAM, I've got to suggest that judging the quality of US
president's from a small country in Europe is extremely difficult.
While you may have some opinions, unless you spend most of your day
dissecting professional sources and not reading the Euro-press, you
won't have a very valid estimation and you'll only be gleaning the
top, superficial level off of a lot of very complex domestic and
foreign policy issues.

As for the question of war, the single greatest factor that most
commentators are overlooking is that the paradigm of war has changed
dramatically. The enemy is not a traditional national actor any more,
but rather a far-reaching network of terrorist agencies that don't
wear uniforms, muster under a national flag or operate within the
constraints of international law or conventional diplomacy. Once that
fact is appreciated, then it becomes a bit more difficult to apply the
conventional rules of justification for war and definition of combat
areas.

Add to the changed paradigm the incredible potential for destruction
of WMD and the removal of the foundation of one of the basic
principles of deterrence, that of rational leadership on both sides of
the deterrent equation, and you've provided a strong justification for
a policy of pre-emption.

So, please Messr. Gustin, avoid making broad generalizations regarding
the quality of the USA's elected government. And, I won't have to
resort to discussing the pros and cons of Belgium's contributions to
the modern world.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
"Phantom Flights, Bangkok Nights"
Both from Smithsonian Books
***www.thunderchief.org