Here in the United States, Secretary Powell's speech was generally a success. Even dovish congressmen like Al C. Hastings of Florida admit Mr. Powell made a very persuasive case that Iraq is violating U.N. Resolution 1441.
A few Democrats, most notably Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy, nit-picked the speech, but clear thinking Americans know the gig is up for Saddam. He's violated the U.N. mandate.
It's interesting because none of the Democratic presidential candidates said very much because they know most Americans support President Bush. And even overseas, opposition to removing Saddam is shrinking. Germany and France are on the defensive, China is wishy-washy and Russia is on board.
So what happens now? Talking Points can report that by the end of March, Saddam Hussein will not be living in Baghdad. That's all I can tell you right now. But if they're taking odds in Vegas, there you go. Some believe the removal of Saddam will cause the USA problems, and that's entirely possible. But the up side is enormous.
After removing Saddam, the United States will be able to set up very effective ground intelligence in the Gulf region, making it much more difficult for Al Qaeda to operate there. Also, the USA will be poised on the border of Iran, making it much more difficult for that country to support terrorism. The same thing with Syria in the West.
So, terrorism will suffer a big defeat, along with the criminal regime of Saddam.
With U.S. forces on guard in Iraq, it'll be much more difficult for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah to continue their murderous rampage. And once things calm down in Israel, a truce between the Palestinians and the Israelis becomes much more realistic.
So, there's a huge up side for removing Saddam that has nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction. And that's important to keep in mind. This argument, though, and all others, will not sway people who hate America or President Bush. No matter how the case is made by Colin Powell or anybody else, they'll oppose removing Saddam. But at this point it doesn't matter. Saddam is toast and most nations in the world will provide the butter.
And that's the memo.
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
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