Angie Craig: “In addition to the loss of this high-stake game, I argue that Saddam Hussein won the divide-and-conquer battle. It is…”

“In addition to the loss of this high-stake game, I argue that Saddam Hussein won the divide-and-conquer battle. It is disturbing to note how many nations who were supportive of active participation in the coalition developed by President George Bush in the gulf war, have either failed to offer support or have condemned the American strikes and the American actions. The Russians not only opposed United States actions, but they went so far as to criticize the administration for playing electoral politics. France, once an important ally in the region, has refused to participate in patrolling the expanded area of the southern no-fly zone. Turkey, an ally since World War II, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia have all expressed concern and refused to allow the United States to base some of their actions in their countries. By moving unilaterally, the President has isolated the United States in the region and weakened our position not only in the gulf, but it could spill over into other regional issues such as the U.S. effort to further the Middle East peace process. One point that has come to light which bothers me greatly is the lack of action to address growing concerns about the division and strains against the various Kurdish factions. Efforts to push diplomatic negotiations could have prevented the situation from escalating to the point that both Iran and Iraq were called into the conflict for support by the various factions.”