Provoking Saddam

A flurry of news stories on Iraq – including threats of a preemptive strike from the Bush administration, recent administrative meetings with several Iraqi opposition groups, an American troop buildup in Kuwait, and new powers granted to the CIA to kill Hussein – have popped up recently.

These reports seem to point to an impending attack by the US. However, something else might be at work here: the US government could be deliberately trying to provoke Saddam into a first strike against our own assets, or, really, anybody. Since we have no credible reason for attacking Iraq which takes into account our own sordid history with Hussein, or the catastrophic effects a war against Iraq will likely have this time around, a quickly manufactured and uncontroversial pretext would be a gift for the war-hungry Bush cabal.

Should Iraq make any show of force, we would be sure to capitalize on it and unleash a military assault. As of now, there is little support for an attack by anyone outside of a claque of American hawks. An aggressive move by Hussein could quickly change that and, conveniently, dissolve dissent immediately.