Quote:
Originally Posted by CHFG8R
Absolutely. And he was Saddam's hero by all accounts, the blueprint if you will. But we never had Stalin by the balls the way we had Saddam post-1992 and, thus, were never able to present that kind of scenario to Stalin.
If put in a similar position (no fly zones over 2/3 of the country, ravaged military, ZERO ability to mount any kind of offensive attack), then sure, I think similar strategies would have worked with Stalin.
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I think you should undertake the study of Stalin with a bit more intensity.
Saddam was an inherently destabilizing figure, under those toothless "no fly zones" his regime trained and supported international terrorism and never gave up its aspiration for WMD, and he was not contained in fact he had effectively defeated containment circa 1998 (the cruise missiles we sent over there may as well have been flying white flags), he was the symbol par excellence of the impotence of both the UN and the US and the idea that clever brinksmanship and diplomacy could always paralyze and nullify the liberal regimes of the west. He could neither be reformed or contained, and like a slowly growing malignant tumor had to be removed now that the patient was aware that his life was at stake.