"Trying to eliminate Saddam, extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq, would have violated our guideline about not changing objectives in midstream, engaging in “mission creep,” and would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible. We had been unable to find Noriega in Panama, which we knew intimately. We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. The coalition would instantly have collapsed, the Arabs deserting it in anger and other allies pulling out as well. Under those circumstances, there was no viable “exit strategy” we could see, violating another of our principles. Furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post–Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations’ mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different—and perhaps barren—outcome."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
George H. W. Bush, A World Transformed (1998)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Iraq_War
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Iraq War
114 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Iraq War →
Related Quotes
"On the 20th of March 2003, at approximately 10.30 a.m. Malaysian time, the United States of America, together with Br…"
"Many of your actions to date and those proposed seem to violate every defining principle of this country over which y…"
"In all the solemn statements by self-important politicians and newspaper columnists about a coming war against Iraq, …"
"The speed with which the Coalition forces achieved victory over the Iraqi military contributed to a swift collapse of…"
"It is our challenge and responsibility to sort through the propaganda of selective facts, distortions, and images in …"
"But tarring the Blix-led inspection mission ranked as a high priority for war enthusiasts on the Bush team who were e…"
"We want to say to America: Is it worth it to you? Won't you have have, afterward, decades of hostility in the Islamic…"
"In my opinion, it disrespects the United Nations. It doesn't take into account what the rest of the world thinks. And…"
"Only rarely has the human story, with names and images, come through as more than a one-day flash of truth, as one da…"
"Why don't they ask [Saddam's intelligence chief, Tahir Jalil Habbush] to give us something we can use to help us make…"