Wagging the Dog
Life imitates art in Iraq.
by Rod D. Martin
February 10, 1998
This week it became clear: America is about to send its sons and daughters, as well as countless thousands of innocent Iraqis, to hideous tragic deaths. It is a grave thing we do, sending people to their graves, and we ought at least have a reason, and with that reason a plan.
In fact, we have neither. The age-old accusation of our Soviet enemies has finally come true: we pursue war simply to profit a power elite back home. And with the increasing realization of that fact, I, the staunchest hawk you will ever read, find myself in the nearly unbelievable position of standing against the use of American arms. Col. David Hackworth, in his February 4 "Defending America," takes the same position, and in the process effectively turns the world on its head.
Why do we so stand? Because this mission, if carried through, will be the most ill-planned, ill-prepared military operation since Carter's aborted hostage rescue in Iran; and because even were that not so, a…