THE GULF WAR: The Battle Front : Words on the War

“The calls for ‘punishment of the aggressor’ and for ideological restructuring of Iraq have an all-too-familiar ring. The 1980-88 Iraq-Iran War dragged on as long as it did because the Iranians stubbornly demanded that Saddam and his regime be punished for invading Iran. Iran’s revolutionary dogmatists insisted that long-term peace was not possible with Saddam and his regime still in power. Today’s Iranian leaders wisely warn of pending disaster should Iraq’s army be gratuitously destroyed. Attempts to impose a Pax Americana could result in a classic anarchical quagmire. Iraq’s remaining military and citizenry should deal with Saddam in their own way, which surely they will.”

-- W. SCOTT HARROP, teacher of Gulf politics, University of Virginia.