Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id BAA01102 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk); Fri, 5 Oct 2001 01:27:09 +0100 Message-ID: <007501c14d33$e6924120$b486b2d1@teddace> From: "Dace" <edace@earthlink.net> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> References: <d5.cc72564.28eb91ef@aol.com> Subject: Re: state of memes Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 17:22:53 -0700 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4133.2400 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4133.2400 Sender: fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Aaron,
> In my opinion, Bush
> senior's administration could have sent different signals that would have
> prevented the invasion of Kuwait.
You can say that again. Bush clearly invited Hussein to take Kuwait. His
ambassador, April Glaspie, told Hussein that the US had no concern with the
dispute between Kuwait and Iraq. This was as good an invitation for
invasion as anything Hussein could have hoped for. He must have been
flabergasted when he discovered that the US, his ally, was suddenly turning
against him. Ever since the downfall of the Shah of Iran, Hussein had been
our number one man in the Persian Gulf region. It was presumably as a
result of US prodding that Iraq invaded Iran in 1980. Given the stupendous
military superiority Iraq enjoyed over its rival, the war should have been a
piece of cake. Instead it was a stalemate. Iraq had been built up as a
serious military power, yet it was completely unreliable as a surrogate in
the region. So it had to be punished. Hence the invitation to invade
Kuwait and the excuse to bomb it back to the 3rd World.
The main thing to keep in mind is that Hussein considered himself to be a
junior partner of the US in the region. He had no intention of biting the
hand that fed him. He was no more likely than Thatcher to launch a nuclear
attack against us.
Ted
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