"S. Checker" wrote:
>
> "Bill Bonde ( 'the oblique allusion in lieu of the frontal attack' )"
<tributyltinpaint@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >
> > Peter Boulding wrote:
> >>
> >> On Mon, 12 May 2008 15:05:04 +0000, "Bill Bonde ( 'the oblique
allusion in
> >> lieu of the frontal attack' )" <tributyltinpaint@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote
in
> >> <48285CA0.B639A02E@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>:
>
> >> >It amazes me
> >> >that "Iraq" could be such a big deal. How is Iraq different than
> >> >Panama, Granada, the Balkans?
> >>
> >> The Balkans, like Gulf 1, had widespread international sup****t
> >>
> > There were at least as many countries involved in Bush's 2003 Iraq
> > effort as were in the Balkans one under Clinton.
>
> Five countries participated (sent troops) in the invasion of Iraq: The
> US, Austria, Poland, the UK and Denmark.
>
The Coalition of the Willing included, just in Europe, also Italy
and Spain and Bulgaria. How many countries were in NATO in the
Clinton years? That's all we have to do, compare that number to the
number that were part of this even in sup****t from the government.
> The United States, the UK, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Turkey, Spain,
> Italy, France, and Germany all fought in the Balkans. Would you care to
> restate your point?
>
Which countries provided substantial force? The fact is, isn't it,
that only the US, UK and France have "substantial force" to provide
and that the US provided the vast bulk of the air power during the
actual war, which was mainly an air war. So if six people show up
from Poland or Honduras, it's the standing with the US that counts,
not the numbers, isn't that right?
> Why are the Balkans such a hobgoblin for you, anyway?
>
They can't be distinguished as *less* than Iraq.
> It was a NATO
> operation, and the US as a member of NATO had an obligation to
> participate.
>
That's an insane claim. NATO is a consensus organization. That
means that any one member can block any action. If the US didn't
want to act, it was the main actor as I've stated, it didn't have
to. NATO can't authorize military action if any individual nation
can't do it.
> Do you think we should leave NATO?
>
No.
--
"Question, two men starving to death decide to eat their hair like
spaghetti. Is that funny?"
"Hmmm, well, it depends on if by funny you want to make people
laugh."
-+Eddie Izzard and Joanna Lumley, "The Cat's Meow"
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