Contrary to claims that the war on Iraq was the product of a vast conspiracy peddled by a small band of neoconservatives, history shows that, even under the Clinton administration, Iraq was perceived as a strategic threat due to Saddam's proven record of aggression and barbarity, his admitted possession of weapons of mass destruction, and the certain knowledge of his programs to build more.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has demanded that Iran give a full and final accounting of its nuclear activities by Oct. 31, or risk action by the U.N. Security Council. Iran's eastern neighbor, Pakistan, and Pakistan's traditional rival, India, have already tested nuclear weapons. India's neighbor and rival, China, has been a nuclear power for many years.
Business leaders, government officials and military planners fret over China's potential to wreak havoc in the world. These anxieties are based on China's growing power; but the real threats it poses will spring from its weaknesses, not its strengths.
Among the variegated arguments made by the Bush administration for war with Iraq was the suggestion that it would somehow lead to an Israeli-Palestinian peace. This was not wholly insincere. US Secretary of State Colin Powell is genuinely committed to the peace process and for a few months after the fall of Baghdad it seemed that President George W. Bush, too, had been won over to this conviction.
