[lit-ideas] Re: Hitchens' Hypothetical Iraq War

Andreas: Al Qaida was in Pakistan because at Tora Bora, the US secretly allowed Pakistan to pull its troops out (10,000 or more Pakistani soldiers and officers were in Afghanistan as part of the Taliban). Along with that pullout, the Pakistani also brought Al Qaida out of Afghanistan.

Eric: Please provide some reference for this assertion. If it is secret, how do you know it? As for al-Qaeda leadership being all lumped up in Afghanistan, that is patent nonsense. Where do you think they found Khald Sheik Mohammed? Pakistan.

Andreas: You didn't answer my question. If the US invaded Pakistan, would you have joined the US army?

Eric: I'm too old, but in a hypothetical world, yes, although I'd prefer to contribute by joining the Navy. I like being at sea. But yes, in a time of universal conscription, I would certainly do what I could.

How about you, Andreas?

How would you live your convictions? Go to peace rallies? Start an insurrection? Leave the country? Or just stay holed up in CA with conspiracy theory literature?

Andreas: You think the US should have invaded Pakistan...

Eric: I said no such thing. Re-read the post. Omar said the US, as a response to 9/11, should have exclusively pursued the al-Qaeda leadership.

I replied that Omar's suggestion would involve US military searching throughout Pakistan. It would have been theoretically possible to do this, but--if the Pakis refused us entrance-- we'd have to start by neutralizing Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, then invading. There would be no alliance with Mushareff. It would be much bloodier than Iraq has been. We'd probably require universal conscription to field the necessary troops. In short, it would have been a super horrific mess. So Omar's suggestion was less than practical.

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