Thirteen Statements That Have Some Bearing On Our Third Concurrent War In The Middle East

[above image: Caspar Weinberger points to a map of Libya, 1986]

1. Many noble Arabs have perished in the cause of Arab freedom at the hands of those alien rulers, the Turks, who oppressed them. It is the determination of the government of Great Britain and the great powers allied to Great Britain that these noble Arabs shall not have suffered in vain. It is the hope and desire of the British people and the nations in alliance with them that the Arab race may rise once more to greatness and renown among the peoples of the earth, and that it shall bind itself together to this end in unity and concord.

- Lieutenant General Sir Stanley Maude, from The Proclamation of Baghdad, issued eight days after British forces entered and captured the city of Baghdad, March 19, 1917

2. The people of the U.S. bear Libya and its people no enmity or hatred. However, Colonel Qaddafi is your head of state. So long as Libyans obey his orders, then they must accept the consequences. Colonel Qaddafi is your tragic burden. The Libyan people are responsible for Colonel Qaddafi and his actions. If you permit Colonel Qaddafi to continue with the present conflict, then you must also share some collective responsibility for his actions.

- Voice of America Broadcast, April 14, 1986

3. I think circumstances will drive where this goes in the future. I wouldn't speculate in terms of length at this particular point in time.

- Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on ABC's This Week speaking to Christine Amanpour on whether or not Colonel Qaddafi might remain in office (a la Saddam Hussein and the Iraq no-fly zone) following NATO military action, March 20, 2011

4. One thing is clear: there is no military solution to the problems in Bahrain. A political solution is necessary and all sides must now work to produce a dialogue that addresses the needs of all of Bahrain's citizens.

- White House spokesman Tommy Vietor, on whether or not the United States would intervene as atrocities against civilians mount at the hands of government forces in Bahrain, March 15, 2011

5. There is no state whose leader does not wish to secure permanent peace by conquering all the universe.

- Immanuel Kant, 1795

6. In the [Berlin] disco, it was very clear that Libya had trained and paid for and was supporting the terrorists who conducted that activity. Americans were killed, and others were killed, and with that proof we didn’t hesitate for a moment. We had a very massive retaliation. We had, for that time, a very big operation—50, 60 planes in the air—and we did very considerable amount of damage in Libya, in effect putting them off the map for a long time. There were a lot of stories that we’d gone after Gaddafi and bombed his home and all that. Well, he didn’t have homes, he had tents. And he had suddenly discovered or adopted some child that was hurt. He said we killed his daughter or something. Up to that time there’d been no evidence whatever that he had any family or any children. We did what we had to do, when we had proof of who had done it. It was very effective, and it did put him off. He then spent the next couple of years just trying to survive. It bred in him a demand for revenge and fury and all that.

- Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of Defense (1981-1987), looking back on Qaddafi-Reagan relations in the mid-1980s

7. A Tomahawk Missile cost $569,000 in FY99, so if my calculations are correct, they cost a little over $736,000 today assuming they are the same make and model. The United States fired 110 missiles yesterday, which adds up to a cost of around $81 million. That's twice the size of the annual budget of USIP, which the House of Representatives wants to de-fund, and is about 33 times the amount of money National Public Radio receives in grants each year from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which the House of Representatives also wants to de-fund in the name of austerity measures.

- Andrew M. Exum, Fellow with The Center For A New American Security, posted March 20, 2011

8. What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians.

- Amr Moussa, former Chairman of the Arab League, speaking out against NATO action in Libya less than twenty-four hours after the Arab League gave support to military action against Col. Qaddafi's forces, March 20, 2011

9. So here we are. The Clinton Administration -- acceding to our allies' nail-nibbling demand for American leadership in Europe -- has brokered a peace requiring another American expeditionary force. By so doing, Clinton has painted all of us, hawks and doves, into a corner. He made an ill-considered promise in May 1993 -- with no public debate or thorough internal review or consultation with Congress -- to send U.S. ground troops to carry out what was called the Vance-Owen plan, concocted in a previous era. Now he tells us that unless his "commitment" of troops is honored and supported here, the Balkan carnage will begin again, NATO will become a dead letter and the word of the American President will be revealed as worthless. Unfortunately, that's true. Like it or not, our choice is to go along with him or repudiate and humiliate him. That's Hobson's choice, which is no choice at all. We'll go along. Why? Because he may be mistaken in his method, but his belated Bosnia activism is not foolhardy, U.N.-subordinated, mean-spirited or immoral. With luck, it could even work.

- William Safire, New York Times editorial, Biting Bosnia's Bullet, November 23, 1995

10. Q: Mr. President, I know you must have given it a lot of thought, but what do you think is the real reason that Americans are the prime target of terrorism? Could it be our policies?

A: Well, we know that this mad dog of the Middle East has a goal of a world revolution, Moslem fundamentalist revolution, which is targeted on many of his own Arab compatriots. And where we figure in that, I don't know. Maybe we're just the enemy because—it's a little like climbing Mount Everest—because we're here. But there's no question but that he has singled us out more and more for attack, and we're aware of that. As I say, we're gathering evidence as fast as we can.

- Helen Thomas and Ronald Reagan, press conference concerning Col. Qaddafi, April 9, 1986

11. And there's no peace / On this terrible shore / And every day is a battle / How we still love the war.

- The Mekons, "Hate Is The New Love," OOOH! (Out Of Our Heads), 2002

12. Listen, I want to thank the Vice President and the leadership of the Congress for coming down for breakfast today. We had a really good discussion about our common concerns. We also talked about Iraq. We talked about the fact that Saddam Hussein has stiffed the United Nations for 11 long years, and that, once again, he said -- made some kind of statement, trying to take the pressure off of himself. This statement about unconditional inspections was something he's made in the past. He deceives, he delays, he denies. And the United States, and I'm convinced, the world community, aren't going to fall for that kind of rhetoric on -- by him again.

We talked about a resolution out of Congress and how it was important for us to work with Congress to pass a strong resolution. I told the members that within the next couple of days this administration will develop language as -- that we think is necessary. And we look forward to working with both Republicans and Democrats to get a resolution passed. I want to thank the leadership for its commitment to get a resolution done before members go home for the election break. I think it's an important signal. It's an important signal for the country, but as importantly, it's an important signal for the world to see that this country is united in our resolve to deal with threats that we face.

And so, thank you all for coming. I'll take a couple of questions.

- President George W. Bush, remarks after meeting with Congressional leaders regarding unilateral action in Iraq, the Oval Office, September 18, 2002

13. The President does not have the power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.

- Candidate for President Barack Obama, speaking to Charlie Savage, Boston Globe, December 20, 2007