Obviously the folks on the economic side saying "The Bush administration is on the brink of snatching defeat from victory in Iraq - for reasons wholly unrelated to the current fracas over the reasons for America's invasion: The administration appears committed to maintaining a Leninist-style economic model for the Iraqi economy. Such a course will ensure the failure of Bush's Iraq policy." are the ones I recall on TV -
The folks doing defense policy studies have all been reasonable and indeed anti-war to the point they might be to the left of the average DU'er!!!!
Sorry I did not notice that CATO - as to defense policy studies - was on our side!
:-(
:-)
August 19, 2002
Top 10 Reasons Not to "Do" Iraq
by Ivan Eland
Ivan Eland is director of defense policy studies at the Cato Institute.
Although President Bush has not formally decided to invade Iraq, the emotional chest pounding in the press by anonymous high-level civilian hawks in his administration has reached a crescendo. And while the hawks have made it seem unpatriotic to raise questions about such an invasion since Sept. 11, a careful analysis suggests that such a high-testosterone response should be avoided for 10 reasons:
February 10, 2003
Faulty Justifications for War with Iraq
by Ted Galen Carpenter
Ted Galen Carpenter is vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute and is the author or editor of 15 books on international affairs, including "Peace & Freedom: Foreign Policy for a Constitutional Republic."
The pro-war camp cites an array of reasons why a U.S. military campaign to overthrow Saddam Hussein is a good idea. Four reasons are especially prominent, and all of them have major flaws.
Saddam Hussein is an evil ruler who represses, tortures, and murders his own people. His overthrow would be an act of liberation.
There is no doubt that Saddam is a murderous tyrant. But that characteristic does not distinguish him from several dozen other rulers around the world. If overthrowing a dictator is sufficient reason for the United States to go to war, one must ask how many other holy crusades are in our future. When does the United States attack North Korea's Kim Jong Il, Cuba's Fidel Castro, Sudan's genocidal slave-masters, or Burma's murderous military junta-to name just a few of the world's most odious regimes?
http://www.cato.org/events/transcripts/020920-eland.pptCommitment to Free Trade Critical to Recovery of Iraq
By Daniel T. Griswold
“War is God's way of teaching Americans geography,” 19th century American writer Ambrose Bierce sagely observed, and the war in Iraq is no exception. After weeks of intense coverage, one fact is plain: The people of Iraq should be among the richest in the world.
Pushing Iraq to Socialism or Capitalism?
by Carlos A. Ball
Carlos Ball is an adjunct scholar with the Cato Institute and the editor of AIPE, a Spanish-language news organization based in Florida.
Is it possible that 15 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall the United States will impose socialism on Iraq? I hope not, but the Wall Street Journal reported on its front page earlier this month:
"U.S. and Iraq officials are leaning heavily toward recommending the formation of a state-run oil company. Such a move could sharply curtail the role of foreign oil concerns, but might allay concerns that the invasion of Iraq was an oil grab."
This would be a disaster and a missed opportunity. There is a golden opportunity to make every Iraq citizen shareholders in a private Iraqi oil company or companies. A time-frame should then be imposed, under which those shares cannot be sold until either a stock exchange is adequately functioning in Baghdad or a reasonable price is reached in foreign exchanges. That would avoid Russian-style mafias taking over the country's wealth.
January 3, 2004
Rolling Democratic Dice in Iraq
by Patrick Basham
Patrick Basham is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute's Center for Representative Government.
President George W. Bush is rolling the democratic dice in Iraq and gambling that the formation of democratic institutions there can stimulate a democratic political culture. If he is proved correct it will mean a democratic first, for what Bush seeks to achieve in Iraq has never been accomplished before. On the contrary, the available evidence strongly suggests that the relationship between institutions and culture works the other way around.
August 29, 2003
Free Iraq's Market
by Gerald P. O'Driscoll and Lee Hoskins
Gerald P. O'Driscoll Jr. is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. Lee Hoskins is a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute.
The Bush administration is on the brink of snatching defeat from victory in Iraq - for reasons wholly unrelated to the current fracas over the reasons for America's invasion: The administration appears committed to maintaining a Leninist-style economic model for the Iraqi economy. Such a course will ensure the failure of Bush's Iraq policy.