President Clinton launched three illegal wars against Iraq

[ProSense]

Crash Course: A Guide To 30 Years Of U.S. Military Strikes Against Other Nations

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BILL CLINTON

—Iraq (1993): Launched cruise missiles into Baghdad, hitting Iraqi intelligence headquarters, in retaliation for assassination plot against President George H.W. Bush.

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—Iraq (1996): Launched cruise missiles at targets in southern Iraq in retaliation against attacks on U.S. jets enforcing no-fly zones to protect Iraqi minorities as authorized by U.N. Security Council resolution.

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—Iraq (1998): Launched cruise missiles and airstrikes on a number of Baghdad targets to punish Saddam Hussein for not complying with U.N. chemical weapons inspections as required under U.N. Security Council resolutions.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/crash-course-a-guide-to-30-years-of-us-military-strikes-against-other-nations.php

[emsimon33]

1. Just because Clinton did it doesn't make it right--Think NAFTA

[fadedrose]

13. I am not one of his fans . . .

Prosperous term for some, cutting welfare for others. Sounds so republican...

[Jefferson23]

2. Yes, he did. n/t

[NuclearDem]

3. Yes, he did.

Just because we're so casual as a nation about bombing other people and have the technological capability to do it without putting boots on the ground doesn't make it any less of a war.

[RobertEarl]

4. And was opposed by peace purists all 3 times

And later, what happened?

Why we invaded and damn near destroyed Iraq.

How'd that work out for ya?

[corkhead]

5. every regime has its "Bagdad Bob"

[NightWatcher]

6. And that solved all the problems over there?

Oh wait I forgot it got worse and we ultimately had to spend ten years, 4 trillion, and nearly 5,000 lives on it.

[fadedrose]

11. Good question

It solved no problems and probably made things worse.

They had 3 or 4 religious factions, and we had no business telling them which god of theirs was the right one.

Hey, that sounds familiar. Isn't that the problem in Syria now?

[rug]

7. Were you online yet?

[whatchamacallit]

8. Clinton invocation fail

[leftstreet]

9. No Nobel Peace Prize for him!

[CreekDog]

10. this worries me. you just posted the talking points that are supposed to instill confidence

did they say on the conference call whether these talking points were intended to convince anybody, or were they just designed to get us to slap our foreheads for a while while they come up with something better?

[ProSense]

12. It should n/t

[dipsydoodle]

14. You missed out

the cruise missile attacks on al qaeda bases in Afghanistan which contributed to the blowback commonly referred to as 9/11.

Keep your heads down.

[WatermelonRat]

20. Yeah, al-Qaeda was totally cool with us before that

Why, just a few days before the cruise missile attacks they set off fireworks displays in front of a couple of our embassies as a goodwill gesture. The thought of attacking America never even occurred to Osama until those meanies blew up his camp.

[dipsydoodle]

22. It remains cause and effect.

Prior to that missile attack there was probably only a few hundred hundred or so of them at most. The attack led to the group splintering and proliferating.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

15. Let's break those down.

—Iraq (1993): Launched cruise missiles into Baghdad, hitting Iraqi intelligence headquarters, in retaliation for assassination plot against President George H.W. Bush.

—Somalia (1993): Increased troop deployment for security and stability mission with 35 other nations under U.N. Security Council resolution.

—Haiti (1994) Deployed troops for peacekeeping and nation-building mission as authorized by U.N. Security Council resolution.

—Bosnia (1994-96): Launched airstrikes with NATO allies over 18 months, culminating with bombings, artillery attacks and cruise missile strikes against Bosnia Serbs, by request of U.N. Secretary General Boutrous Boutrous-Ghali and to enforce no-fly zones as authorized by at least three U.N. Security Council resolutions. Deployed troops in year-long NATO peacekeeping mission.

—Iraq (1996): Launched cruise missiles at targets in southern Iraq in retaliation against attacks on U.S. jets enforcing no-fly zones to protect Iraqi minorities as authorized by U.N. Security Council resolution.

—Sudan, Afghanistan (1998): Launched cruise missiles at terrorist training camps in Sudan and Afghanistan in retaliation against U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 220 people, including 12 Americans.

—Iraq (1998): Launched cruise missiles and airstrikes on a number of Baghdad targets to punish Saddam Hussein for not complying with U.N. chemical weapons inspections as required under U.N. Security Council resolutions.

—Kosovo: (1999): Launched airstrikes and cruise missiles over more than three months at Yugoslavian military targets, power stations, bridges and other facilities as part of NATO mission.


Query

1) Has Syria attacked the USA, attempted to assassinate one of our leaders, or bombed one of our embassies abroad?

2) Are there any U.N. resolutions asking for an American or NATO airstrike against Syria?

[NuclearDem]

16. I think the point being made was that a war isn't a war

Unless there's a ground invasion.

[ProSense]

18. All illegal. That

includes Kosovo, which was not sanctioned by the UN.

Wesley Clark: Syria vs. Kosovo

Wesley Clark

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As in the case of Syria today, there was no United Nations resolution explicitly authorizing NATO to bomb Serbia. But NATO nations found other ways, including an earlier U.N. Security Council Resolutionpage 105, to legally justify what had to be done. In Syria, the violation of the 1925 Geneva prohibition against the use of chemical weapons is probably sufficient justification. (The fact that Russia used chemical weapons in Afghanistan in the 1980s should be used to undercut Russian objections to strikes against Syria today.)

Kosovo also reminds us that it isn't imperative to strike back immediately after a "red line" is crossed. In 1998, NATO had established a red line against Serb ethnic cleansing; the Serbs crossed that line with the massacre of at least 40 farmers at Racak in January 1999. But NATO didn't strike immediately. Instead, France took the lead for a negotiated NATO presence. This strengthened NATO's diplomatic leverage and legitimacy, even though the talks failed.

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At a time when the U.S. faces many other security threats, not to mention economic and political challenges at home, it is tempting to view action against Syria's regime as a significant distraction. Certainly, it also carries risks. A year after Saddam was bombed in 1993, he deployed Republican Guard Divisions to Iraq's southern border into the same sort of attack positions they had occupied before the invasion of Kuwait in 1990. A few years later, the Republican Congress passed, with Democratic support, a resolution advocating "regime change." You can't always control the script after you decide to launch a limited, measured attack.

But President Obama has rightly drawn a line at the use of chemical weapons. Some weapons are simply too inhuman to be used. And, as many of us learned during 1990s, in the words of President Clinton, "Where we can make a difference, we must act."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/08/29/syria-wesley-clark-kosovo-nato/2726733/

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

23. Since your viewpoint is that some of the Clinton-ordered operations were "illegal"

then is he, in your view, a war-criminal?

In Syria, the violation of the 1925 Geneva prohibition against the use of chemical weapons is probably sufficient justification.

Has Syria signed on to the Chemical Weapons Convention?

http://www.opcw.org/about-opcw/non-member-states/

Now that doesn't mean that Syria can use them against civilians, but I would caution on the side of waiting for a full UN report on the matter. If the UN and other member nations can prove that the Syrian government was behind the attacks it would be a good step in the right direction.

In 1998, NATO had established a red line against Serb ethnic cleansing...

Serbia was attacking all of the republics that had been held together from the former Yugoslavia. It wasn't a civil war as was a broader conflict between nation states that felt Serbia wanted large parts of their territory.

But President Obama has rightly drawn a line at the use of chemical weapons.

If President Obama acts unilaterally would you consider it illegal as you have posted that Clinton's operations were?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

25. Perhaps I should make my point more user friendly.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3590705

[Whisp]

17. the sanctions on Iraq during the Clinton administration

were devastating to the people.

U.S. blocked efforts by France, Russia and China to lift sanctions.
The children always suffer the most. It was horrifying - this war that has become silent and the Clinton's speak of peace for the world when they/he partook in this hideousness.

That is one reason why I am so very vocal against Hillary for President. When she speaks about human rights, and the rights of women and children, knowing what was done to so many women and children in Iraq before the Evil Chimp got his hands on them after they were weakened so, I get very upset.

I get livid.

[polly7]

19. Thanks for that Whisp. I get livid too.

Half a million children dead during those genocidal sanctions. It still makes my stomach heave thinking about how cheap all those little lives were made by simply denying them clean water. It was ... and is, horrendous.

[Jefferson23]

21. That was a horrific moment when Albright was confronted with that figure did not

hesitate to say it was worth it...her words.

[moondust]

24. Here's another example:

Operation Opera, also known as Operation Babylon, was a surprise Israeli air strike carried out on 7 June 1981, that destroyed a nuclear reactor under construction 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq.

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The attack was strongly criticized around the world and Israel was rebuked by the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly in two separate resolutions.[13][14] The destruction of Osirak has been cited as an example of a preventive strike in contemporary scholarship on international law.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Opera

Using piloted aircraft.