Clinton Lied, People Died

The following is from an email to one of the members of National Review Online. Scan then skip to the highlighted section for the meat of the matter if you're pressed for time:

The Corner on National Review Online

From Mark J. Conversino:
I was a squadron commander at the time of Desert Fox in 1998 (we called it"Deny Christmas '98") and while there was a sense that Clinton's order toattack Iraq at that point had a tinge of "wag the dog" to it, we also knewthat this was a long time in coming. (In addition to the Feb 98 commentsyou cite, Clinton also warned that Saddam could pass his WMD to "shadowy"terrorists who traveled unseen among us--sound familiar?).

As things deteriorated throughout the spring, summer and fall of 98, Clinton was underpressure, from both Dems and Republicans, to carry out a substantial attackagainst Iraq. He had been criticized for waging "pin-prick" strikes thataccomplished little of substance. You might recall Bill Cohen hitting theSunday chat shows that fall with his 5lb bag of sugar and claims that asimilar amount of Saddamite anthrax would devastate DC and its environs.

In fact, on Veteran's Day, November 1998, we were spun up for an attack onIraq that was called off only after Saddam backed down. B-52s were actuallyen route from Diego Garcia when Clinton called off the raid. Thus, whenRichard Butler pulled UNSCOM out of Iraq in December, Clinton was underintense pressure to "do something"--not because of Monica, but because ofthe apparent collapse of inspections and the threat of Saddam's WMD. So, wedeployed for Desert Fox--4 days of ineffectual bombing.

I've attached a link to a piece I recently published on Desert Fox (print versions in US and UK are forthcoming in Jan 06).

It considers the operation from the perspective of the proper use ofairpower, which may be of little interest to you. Still, here is what I think is important to the current discussion that many, including andespecially Democrats, forget:

Desert Fox was carried out by the US and UK only; the French dropped out of Southern Watch operations as a result of thebrief campaign and called for the lifting of sanctions. Moscow recalled itsambassadors from London and Washington in protest and the Chinese dubbed the raids an act of international terrorism.

Most Arab states refused us the use of their soil for combat sorties (Turkey, as well, opted out). Again,does this sound familiar? Clinton made thinly veiled references to regimechange as well, generating speculation in the media that taking Saddam outwas our real goal (though an unrealistic one, as I argue that a 4-day aircampaign, limited to 100 targets, would hardly unseat a ruthless tyrant likeSaddam).

Yet, let's not forget the Oct 98 Iraq Liberation Act, either, thatestablished regime change as US policy long before GWB became president.It's clear to me that the Clinton Administration certainly "hoped" DesertFox would bring about a collapse of Saddam's regime--but hope is not a plan.But long before OIF, the "international community" regarded Saddam and hisweapons as an Anglo-American problem and cared little about Baghdad's lackof compliance with UN resolutions and inspections. President Bush'sopponents want us to think that the choice was between a neat, tidy and"safe" status quo with a WMD-less Iraq, or regime change and a bloodyinsurgency.

The situation that emerged from Desert Fox, in my view, putsthe lie to that. In fact, Desert Fox was the last major militaryconfrontation between the US and Iraq prior to OIF, and its consequences setthe stage for our diplomatic struggles in the run-up to OIF.

Our knowledge of Saddam's WMD stockpiles and programs remained frozen intime from 1998 until 2003, since Desert Fox failed to induce Iraq tocooperate with UNSCOM. Indeed, Saddam declared victory--and rightly so, inmy view. The sanctions, such as they were, remained, but the inspectorswere gone and the tyrant remained securely in power.

And for those Dems who claim that Clinton "got it all" (Saddam's WMD, not Monica) during DesertFox, they should know that we purposely avoided targeting what we thought were "known" stockpiles. We feared the release of chemical agents and biotoxins that would cause massive collateral damage. Of the 100 targets, 11 were directly WMD-related, and they were nearly all tied to his missile delivery systems.

In summary, there was a real sense of urgency that Saddam was slipping the noose and something had to be done. Those who wish to understand our view of the threat posed by Iraq pre-OIF, need to become familiar with this often overlooked operation.
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So then. Iraq was bombed for 4 days during the Clinton Administration.

Clinton Lied, People Died.

Shut them damned Senate doors and let's get to the bottom of this.

Right, Senator Reid?