From: David N. Barnett 

Here's a message I copied from the Compu$erve Cars Forum, written by one
Matt Wienstein.  I suspect that it is a frighteningly accurate analysis:

_______________________________________________________________

The recent Frontline Report is perhaps the best exposition of where this
Iraq deal came from.  It derives from the unhappiness of certain
"Hawks" in the Bush I administration who belived the failure to
finish off Saddam and to support the Shiite/Kurdish rebellions in 1992 were
a disastrous mistake.  Among these were Donald Rumsfeld & Paul
Wolfowitz.  Wolfowitz expanded on this in a series of think tank supported
papers & he actually tried to convince the Clinton administration to
use its power to "regime change" Saddam's government.  But he was
largely (tho' not entirely) ignored.  Anyway, when he & Rumsfeld were
invited into the Bush II adminsitration, they began positioning for a new
assault on Saddam.  9/11 was both an interruption of their internal
campaign, but also an opportunity to attach Saddam to the anti-terrorism
war.  Their theory (which has NOTHING to do with oil) is that now that the
US is the only superpower and can act unrestrained by other states, it has
both the ability and the OBLIGATION to advance human rights, democracy
(& maybe free markets, too) to places governed by violent, dictatorial
regimes. Also, democratic regimes never make war on other democratic
regimes. Therefore, the spread of democracy spreads peace and reduces the
costs and liklihoods of war.   Moreover, Saddam, is a persistent impediment
to peace between Israelis & Palestinians.  Removing him would advance
peace there.

This position seems to me to be similar to the Victorian "white man's
burden" argument for Imperialism.  That is, the obligation to compel
others to act rightfully follows from the power to do so.  It's an
evangelical argument that may not be shared by all of us but it is
understood by Evengelical Christians -- including Geo Bush AND Tony Blair.

__________________________________________________________________

--dnb

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-4