Addendum to the last day.

[jchrisobrien]

I never did get to sleep when I came home. I tossed and turned, the remnants of the caffeine in my system no doubt keeping me awake. Instead I had a lovely dinner at the Aegean restaurant in Watertown (though in the future I will stay away from the breaded enters). and then went to an anti-valentine's day party. It was a surreal experience, and finally I dropped some friends off and made it home to sleep, after 40 hours of consciousness.

Which I'm still paying for. I was fairly groggy all day and am home right now feeling sick and run down. I think a little down time will be necessary to get my body up and running again.

Had a great debate with my roommate over broken treaties, and the stupidity of both Bush AND the protesters. The sooner we make my roommate God Emperor of the planet, the better it will all be. And I'll get to be Mr. Butlertron..... wesleyyyyy

Comments

[tiny-chicken.livejournal.com]

the stupidity of both Bush AND the protesters

Will I kick-start a virtual sh*tstorm if I ask why you think the protest was stupid?

Re:

[silas7.livejournal.com]

We were talking about how some of the protesters weren't educated and just chanting about not going to war under any circumstances.

I learned last night that by throwing out weapons inspectors, Saddam had violated the cease fire agreement at the end of the gulf war. We agreed to stop shelling him, and he would allow weapons inspectors into the country. If he wasn't going to allow the inspectors in, then we would by rights be able to start attacking him again. This happened during Clinton's term of office, but neither he nor the U.N> did anything about it.

Now, since he has allowed inspectors back in, we should NOT be pushing for war. But they have found unaccounted for weapons. Which should be seized, if that was the terms of the cease fire.

There are a lot of bad reasons to be over in Iraq, but if they throw out or hinder weapons inspections, then they should be leaned on. That was the terms of the agreement that they signed to end a war.

Re:

[tiny-chicken.livejournal.com]

We were talking about how some of the protesters weren't educated and just chanting about not going to war under any circumstances.

Okay, I agree with you on that count. There's a difference between complete pacifism and protesting a particular conflict. I thought you were saying that the whole protest was stupid, not just that there were uneducated protesters in the bunch. Now I get ya (thanks) :)

just a minor correction

[cris.livejournal.com]

I learned last night that by throwing out weapons inspectors, Saddam had violated the cease fire agreement at the end of the gulf war.

Saddam did not throw out the weapons inspectors.

They were pulled out just before Clinton decided to fire cruise missiles into Iraq as part of Operation Desert Fox. The commission was then taken apart when allegations arose that Butler's weapons inspectors were acting as a front for American intelligence. Saddam has used this card as his main claim for denying re-entry to the inspectors who, he argues, would just be conducting espionage work to provide intelligence for a pending American invasion.

Re: just a minor correction

[silas7.livejournal.com]

Can Saddam deny weapons inspectors into the country under those condidtions and still be considered honoring the cease fire treaty?

It's something of a moot point, as inspectors are there now.

Re: just a minor correction

[cris.livejournal.com]

technically, yes. The UN resolution that enforced the ceasefire created a special commission to monitor Saddam's disarmament. When that commission withdrew itself from Iraq, it was disbanded amidst all of the controversy that ensued over espionage. Hence, Saddam fulfilled his obligation of allowing inspectors specified in the ceasefire into the country, but allowing a new round of inspections was not something he was obligated to do.

He is obligated to destroy his chemical and biological weapons stockpile, which is something he either hasn't been doing or not been very thorough at doing, and so can be held accountable for supposed non-compliance, in that regard. But there's nothing in the ceasefire agreement that sets a date or deadline for when disarmament must be accomplished ... which makes it infinite harder to 'draw a line in the sand' as it were.