Iraq War: Debating the Options

The Los Angeles Times on Sunday (02/01/04) has several op-ed pieces touching on the Iraq War.

Our Basic Instincts Were Sound by Gary Schmitt, executive director of the neoconservative Project for a New American Century (PNAC). Short version (as they say in the blogosphere): We lied shamelessly to get our war, but we got it, so we don't care, and the lies were Bill Clinton's fault anyway. And the CIA's.

The Weight of the Last Option by AJ Langguth. Short version: it would be nice to have a President who took the decision going to war with the seriousness it deserves. But we don't.

The Cupboard Was Bare by Barbara Hatch Rosenberg. Short version: Sanctions and inspections had worked; there was no reason to go to war. And WMD programs aren't nearly so easy to hide as the war fans claimed.

See Bush's Strong Hand - And Raise the Ante by Walter Russell Mead. Short version: Who cares about WMD or credibility? We need more wars, not less.

'Axis of Evil' Versus 'Chain of Evil' by Brian Michael Jenkins, terrorism expert at the conservative-leaning RAND Corporation. Short version: When you think about it, Bush's simple-minded foreign-policy posturing is as reckless and arrogant as Osama bin Laden's threats.