>>I think the whole legal authority for the 'no fly zones' was wrapped in that and that included more thoroughgoing intervention.
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>>But of course international 'authorization' - like God - is on the side of the most artillery <s>
>>
>
>In this case it wasn't. France and Germany (most prominently) would not go along with UN authorization unless and until WMDs were found. When they were not found soon enough to suit the Bush administration, the U.S. invaded unilaterally.
>
>In hindsight -- which of course is always easy -- I think the "go slow" nations were proven wise.
The 'go slow' nations were taking the stand that there was more money to be made in corruption of the "Oil for food" program and if push came to shove they always had the US and Israeli military to protect them from the consequences of Saddam really going off the rails.
Charles Hankey
Though a good deal is too strange to be believed, nothing is too strange to have happened.
- Thomas Hardy
Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm-- but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.
-- T. S. Eliot
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed sheep contesting the vote.
- Ben Franklin
Pardon him, Theodotus. He is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.
