Frum & Perle: Eight
More hackery (page 22). Shorter version: 'It takes strength of character to resist humanitarians!':[T]he sufferings of the people of Iraq were very real. Real too were the economic opportunities that beckoned to Saddam's trading partners if the sanctions should be dropped [..] France and Russia demanded that sanctions be scrapped [...] So too did a gathering international protest movement. Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser signed a petition calling for the immediate abolition of Iraq sanctions [...] the official spokesman for the Vatican -- among many others -- denounced sanctions as well.
The Clinton administration, characteristically, wavered. On the one hand, the administration lacked the strength of character to resist these pressures. On the other, sanctions were all that remained of the administrations's crumbling claim to have "contained" Saddam [except for that part about the no-fly zones and the fact of Saddam's all-around military weakness] [...] So, again characteristically, the Clintonites began looking for some form of words that would allow them to surrender [!!!] while pretending to themselves and others that they had held firm.
posted by RETARDO MONTALBAN @ 1:48 AM
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