--- Alberto Monteiro <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:"God" wrote: > Observation #1: Iran's western land border> measures 2,603 km, of which> > 1,458 km are borders with Iraq - that's 56%.
Part of the insanity of all this is a complete obliviousness to "borders". For a year before we invaded Iraq through the NARROWEST border FARTHEST from Baghdad, I was urging that we at least GLANCE at the BIGGEST AND CLOSEST border ... Iraq's border with Iran. If the W admin paid even a scintilla of attention to the fantastically successful and professional war plans created by the Clinton Admin (Balkans and Afghanistan) they might have thought: "Duh... lte's see, are there any LOCAL forces who hate Saddam a whole lot and have bases we could use that are real close to Baghdad?" Um Duh? ONE of many carrots we could have offered the Iranian people, in order to draw them AWAY from their mullahs (instead of relentlessly saber rattling to push them closer to the Ayatollahs) would have been a chance to get revenge on Saddam... ...WHILE liberating their shiite brethren in the south of Iraq. These twin offers MIGHT have created an American-Iranian alliance on Saddam's longest and weakest border. A situation that would have forced his generals finally to act and lop off his head. If fighting did start, we could use smart bombs to pave the way as we did in Balkans/AFGH. But here's the main point. EVEN IF IT DID NOT WORK... IF THE IRANIANS SPURNED THE OFFER,,, IT WOULD HAVE COST US NOTHING TO TRY. In fact, I know very well that all talk of even approaching Iran with the most timid/tepid notions of rapprochement were totally vetored by Condi Rice. The explanation is simple. If a restored US-Iran freindship would frighten Saddm, it is the absolute worst nightmare of the Saude sheiks. They vetoed it, as they have vetored and controlled every single aspect of this administration, from appointments to policies to actions. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
