December 12, 2002
WARGAME IRAQ
Highest Levels of the U.S. Government at Play?
By Howard Hobbs, Ph.D.

    WASHINGTON -- The Council on Foreign Relations appears to have been collaborating with informants inside the National Security Council on the coming War with Iraq.
     In the meantime, MSNBC has aired an all too realistic inside look at how the National Security Council could advise President George W. Bush on some attack plans that might just come in handy by this time next week.
     According to an informant, this cozy relationship all started last month in a dramatic series of meetings at National Security Council offices, where veterans of past administrations and experts in foreign policy discussed the complexities of war and dangers of peace.     
Now, it has been learned, that the planning for a limited war with Iraq, has been leaked to the press under the guise of "public education" in segments consisting of a number of two-hour television exposures to be broadcast nationwide prior to Whitehouse Press conferences.
    The scenario begins with United Nations weapons inspectors on the ground in Baghdad, 50,000 U.S. troops in the region, and a declaration by Saddam Hussein that he does not possess weapons of mass destruction.
    What else is new? The United States already has a for-real ambiguous information policy.
     We already know that the U.N. Council is seemingly unable to cope with increasingly difficult real developments in Iraq and around the world.
     We also know that President George W. Bush is out of executive options. It is readily apparent that Iraq is in material breach of its obligations to the United Nations.
     Now, we have the National Security Council discretely sponsoring a TV extravaganza on whether or not the President of the United States should out the remaining shreds of his war footing.
     President Bush said in June that "Our Nation's cause has always been larger than our Nation's defense. We fight, as we always fight, for a just peace—a peace that favors liberty. We will defend the peace against the threats from terrorists and tyrants. We will preserve the peace by building good relations among the great powers. And we will extend the peace by encouraging free and open societies on every continent. We possesses unprecedented— and unequaled—strength and influence in the world. The aim of this strategy is to help make the world not just safer but better. Our goals on the path to progress are clear: political and economic freedom, peaceful relations with other states, and respect for human dignity."

Letter to Editor

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