FLAIT

Originally Posted: Dec. 2004

If I had a nickel every time I pointed out Republican hypocrisy, well, I'd have an awful lot of nickels.

Below are a couple of links I found that provide quotes from Republicans about Clinton's 1998 air strikes on Kosovo. The hypocrisy will make your hair stand on end.

But first some facts:

In 1995 when Bosnia and Herzegovina was a mess, Clinton brought both sides to Dayton, Ohio and threatened them with air strikes if they didn't allow peace keepers in. Well, the threat worked because the "Dayton Accords" were signed; practically at gunpoint.

In 1998 Clinton went to the UN's Security Council and issued the same military threat to Slobadan Milosivic to get him to stop the ONGOING civil war in Kosovo and to allow peace keepers in.

But Milosivic was a bit more stubborn and wouldn't back down.

Now, had Clinton not followed through with his threat, the GOP would have blasted him...saying how our word doesn't mean anything. And they would have been right.

But Clinton did follow through with his threat, and after a couple of months, guess what? Milosivic finally backed down, he was taken into custody, and the peace keepers went in (our troops have been drawn down so much since then, that Europe has taken over the mission entirely).

So any Republican comparison between Iraq and Kosovo won't wash. It's not even close.

Kosovo was an ONGOING civil war in NATO's backyard that could have spilled out over its borders. Iraq was stable in a volatile part of the world.

Kosovo was NOT an invasion/liberation/occupation, and had much less risks and costs then an Iraqi invasion/liberation/occupation.

Of course Republicans will still try and spin Iraq as being an issue of "national security" while there was no "threat" from Kosovo.

First, Kosovo was more "humanitarian," which ironically is how Republicans are trying to justify the war in Iraq now: "there were mass graves!"

And that spin is kind of ironic too, since whenever Democrats wanted to get involved and help the oppressed around the world, Republicans called them "bleeding heart liberals."

Second, Iraq wasn't a threat:

"(Saddam Hussein) has not developed any significant capability with respect to WMDs. He is unable to project (EVEN!) conventional power against his neighbors."
- Colin Powell, February, 2001

Bottom line: you had a better chance of being a victim of domestic terrorism then there ever was of being involved in an sponsored attack by Sadddam Hussein.

Republican quotes on Kosovo: here and here.

I deserve a bag of nickels for these.