Re: Hussein like Hitler

[Dnkwilson4100@aol.com]

I take offense to Mazine's clearly thought out argument that equates the United States with Nazi Germany and George Bush with Adolph Hitler.  As an Active Duty Army Officer I can assure you that the United States has not "seized" Afghanistan or Kuwait.  A force much larger than what is currently based in either country would be necessary to seize and control such a vast land area.  

Did we attack a belligerent country in Afghanistan? No.  We attacked a belligerent government, which was oppressing its own population as well as supporting terrorists who's self stated mission is to kill Americans wherever and whenever possible.  

Are we occupying Afghanistan now?  No.  We are supporting an interim government (albeit a government selected by the U.S. - yes I admit that) until a democratic form of government (or whatever the Afghanis come up with) can be established.  Did we declare war on the people of Afghanistan?  No.

Will we stay in Afghanistan?  Probably yes until a government is up and running and we feel confident that the leadership of al-Qaida is no longer hiding out in Afghanistan.

Did we seize Kuwait? No.  We went to the Saudi Peninsula at the request of both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to 1) Defend Saudi Arabia from perceived invasion by Iraq and 2) to drive Iraq out of the sovereign nation of Kuwait which was illegally invaded and "seized" by Iraq.  

Are we occupying Kuwait?  No.  We have a military and diplomatic agreement to remain in Kuwait (as long as the Kuwaitis want us) to provide military training to the Kuwaiti Armed Forces and to act as a deterrent to possible attacks by Iraq.  The initial agreement was that we would be in Kuwait for ten years.  At the request of Kuwait we are still there twelve years later.  By the way, Kuwait has been footing the bill for us to be there since 1991.  I know several Kuwaiti Army Officers very well and I can assure you that they are glad to have us there.

As far as 'acquiring' Bahrain, Qatar, UAE (oh, you forgot Oman) - we've had military bases there since before the Second Gulf War (that is the term Arabs use by the way since the First Gulf War was between Iraq and Iran).  And oh by the way, Qatar built the world's longest air strip and dug out a deep water port specifically to entice the U.S. into investing more military aid and money into the country.  That was their doing; not ours.

I'm curious to know why you think the U.S. was not 'able' to invade Iraq in 1991.  As far as I remember - having been there myself - we DID invade Iraq.  The only reason we stopped was because we had achieved the diplomatic goal of the war which was to remover Iraqi military forces from Kuwait.  George Bush senior decided that pursuing Saddam Hussein might result in a breakup of the Coalition.

If you've read your history you would know that Germany invaded non-belligerant neighboring nations with huge military forces.  He developed these forces which used an offensive doctrine in secret after World War I, even though the terms of the armistice prohibited Germany from possessing more than a defensive military force.  This sounds very similar to the situation we are now facing in Iraq.

I'm not going to argue the issues you raise about oil pipelines because I agree with you that the U.S. does have interests in developing these assets and that the U.S. most likely desires to have a great amount of control over these assets.  But you need to think of the revenue this will provide for the region while Afghanistan and surrounding nations attempt to modernize and rebuild.  As for Iraq, I imagine that we will spend vast amounts of U.S. money rebuilding the infrastructure of the country, just as did in Germany and Japan after World War II.  Did rebuilding those nations benefit the U.S.?  Of course.  And will rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan benefit the U.S. You betcha.  But don't forget the benefit the Iraqi and Afghani people will get from U.S. and international aid once the money actually gets to them (as opposed to what is happening now in Iraq for instance).  

Did Hitler attempt to rebuild Poland or France? Greece or Egypt? Tunis or Holland?  No.  Did Saddam Hussein attempt to rebuild Kuwait?  Just the opposite - he destroyed everything in his path and looted most of Kuwait's cultural treasures.  I was in Kuwait City in 1991.  I have pictures if you'd like to see some of the destruction.  I have also spoken with Kuwaiti military officers who lost family members during the Iraqi occupation.  Family members who were possibly tortured to death while the Iraqi Army tried to determine where the Kuwaiti underground was hiding.  I can assure you the U.S. does not adhere to the same tactics used by many of it's enemies including Saddam Hussein.

As a final note, I agree with Liz who says she is angered by your comments which seem to be directed at our class.  She may not agree with my comments above but that is one of the wonderful freedoms we have here in the good 'ole US of A.  I am curious to know what your national heritage is?  Would you be able to publicly make such statements against your own nation in one of its universities?  I assume you came to the U.S. to study partly because of the freedoms we have here - where you are allowed by law to slam the nation that guarantees that freedom.  I don't pretend to agree with everything our elected leaders do, but I believe they have our own national interests at heart.

Sincerely,

David N. Wilson
Major, United States Army