-------Original Message------- From: "S.V. van Baardwijk-Holten" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >I do however think that keeping the pressure on high, > while conducting further peacefull inspections is >probably the best bet for improvement in the region. > Then again I don't see how the US will be prevented from going >for the price... oops I mean ... peace. :o)
First off, thank you for recognizing the role of US troops in producing inspections in the first place. Unfortunately, it is pretty insulting for you to mock the price of your proposed solution here, as if it were pocket change. As it is, the USS Abraham Lincoln, currently in the Persian Gulf is about the set the record for the longest US carrier deployment ever. Indeed, right now, one out of every one thousand Americans is in the Persian Gulf. That is a lot of separate families, a lot of kids that don't have moms and dads around, a lot of lonely wives, husbands, boyfriends, and girlfriends. Heck, some sailors ahve actually already missed their own weddings, after their length of deployment was repeatedly extended. Meanwhile, the uncertainty surrounding the war is keeping oil prices sky high, with devastating effects on the US economy. Inflation was 1.6% this *month*, after rising 1.1% last month. And none of this even counts the hundreds of billions of dollars of direct costs of maintaining this military force in the desert. Thus, while Saddam Hussein will clearly only permit inspections so long as he is within days of being wiped out - it is the simple truth that the US can't pay this price forever... and I think that the US would greatly appreciate it if France, Germany, and like-minded Europeans, who are bearing none of these costs, but are reaping the benefits of the first Iraqi weapons inspections in FIVE YEARS, could at least recognize that this stuff isn't cheap for us. Thank you. JDG _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
