Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[Lane Hall-Witt]

sl--

It could be that, although the Dems have been mostly going along with Bush on defense spending since 9/11. (The only real point of resistance has been the missle-defense shield.) More likely in my view is that there is some optimism right now about a U.N. resolution that will avert a war in Iraq entirely. Blair is on the wires with some confident talk. The U.S. claims to have nine Security Council votes in favor of its draft of the resolution -- although it still needs commitments from France, Russia, and China.

As I noted in a post earlier today, I personally believe the war talk was put on hold due to the elections; I think it is still the Bush Administration's intention to attack and conduct a full-scale war against Iraq. The most likely time for a war to begin would be January-March 2003, when the weather is most favorable for ground war. Signs that war is coming, all reported by major news outlets over the past few days, include: escalation of U.S. and British air missions in the no-fly zone over Iraq; chatter about imminent British plans to call reservists to active duty and suspend limits on reservist tours; U.S. infantry receiving training in urban-warfare tactics in Israel, from Israeli soldiers; ongoing $1.4 billion expansion of the U.S. air field in Qatar.