I’m stunned to see that William Burton and I disagree on something of substance. I’m actually going to spend the whole time at the party tonight drinking solemnly and thinking about this…
…but for now, I think he’s waaaay off base (sports pun!!) in this post in which he thinks that N. Korea is a bigger priority than the Middle East. I’m not sure if he’s just so torqued at the Bushies (yes, they are insanely corrupt) that he’s just being disagreeable…but here’s the deal:
The North Koreans probably have or will shortly have a Bomb. Pakistan has a Bomb. India has a Bomb. South Africa may well have a Bomb (or that could have been an Israeli bomb). There are too damn many Bombs out there for comfort (as I’ve noted). But at this point, I don’t see the pattern of behavior (in the last 40 years) that would lead me to believe that North Korea would use their bombs belligerently (as opposed to, maybe selling them to a terrorist organization). Without the backing of China, North Korea is pretty much a speed bump militarily (a big one, to be sure, and if I lived within 100 miles of the DMZ, I’d certainly have a different position).
The Islamists, OTOH, have established a pattern of aggressive action (c.f. Manhattan, Bali, East Timor, etc.), and while Saddam isn’t an Islamist, he sure is moving to their side as fast as his polished brogans will take him.
So this North Korea thing needs to be dealt with, and to be honest I may have to give this one to Bush…the only reason I can imagine for them to go public with this now is because they are worried that they’re on the dance card headed by Saddam right now.
But I wouldn’t be getting all panicky about it, Bill.
When the alcohol wears off tomorrow, I’ll revisit and see if I still feel this way.
You’re lumping like crazy, A.L.. Saddam is not in any way, shape, or form an Islamist (he’s strongly secular and emulates the pagan Nebuchadnezzar (sp.?)) and there is little or no reason to believe that he’s doing business with the Islamists, who have hated him for decades.
Um, other than the cash he’s been giving Hezbollah? He’s dancing like mad to get close to the Islamists right now, and I don’t doubt that while he’s the heir to Nasser’s Arab Nationalism (which was v. secular), he’s been trying like mad to make new friends in the recent past…
A.L.
Ziska:
Here’s the story on which I based the above comment:The possibility of Iraq’s support for Ansar if only to destabilize the Kurdish territory that exists beyond Baghdad’s control does not surprise Kurdish officials. They note that President Hussein has recently embraced Islamic groups, and pays $10,000 each to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers in Israel, to solidify his credentials. Supporting Ansar, too, may provide Hussein with a way to get at his Kurdish enemies.
“There has been a marked change in Saddam’s thinking in the past five years,” says Hoshyar Zebari, a senior Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) official, regarding Baghdad’s shift from hardline secularism, to backing Islamists.
–from the Christian Science Monitor, 4/2/02
I’ll concede this one. Hadn’t seen that story.
This looks like the familiar war-makes-strange-bedfellows alliance, since the true Islamists have to have a bitter hatred for Saddam.
I think I have a narrower definition of “Islamist” than you — not merely Muslim nationalist groups, but Muslim Nationalist groups which give primacy to strict religious principles. I may be wrong again, but as I remember Hizbollah, while representing a religious subgroup (Shias), is not expecially fundamentalist.
Odd to read about someone who shares my name, but I suspect that I am the only William Burton with the middle name of Augustus…. although it is also odd that two of the English forts in Scotland are named Fort William and Fort Augustus.===William Augustus Burton, Jurupa, CA…. formerly of Riverside, CA……. Westlake Village, CA….. and Sunnyside Gardens, Queens, NY….