A word of explanation about yesterday’s silliness:
It’s not as if Saddam was about to invade Israel tomorrow, but if the conquest of Kuwait had gone unchallenged things would certainly have gotten very very nasty round here. For one thing, they say he saw himself as another Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon who conquered Jerusalem, in days of old, and exiled the Israelites. The Sallah a Din equation came later, after 1991, in order to gain popularity with Muslim masses.

The word is that in 1990 Saddam was operating in Jordan with a view to doing very unpleasant things to us. Poor old King Hussy of Jordan had little say in this. He wasn’t supportive of Saddam in 1991 because he wanted him to show him how to grow a nice moustache.

And we didn’t destroy Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981, to fierce global condemnation and to the horror of the French (they built it), as an act of altruism. It was pure self-preservation.

Saddam truly believed he could outlast sanctions and continue to further his plans, while fooling the West. If it weren’t for 9/11, he would probably have been right.

Sadly, most Arabs would like to destroy Israel. We're right smack in the middle of the historical home of Islam. They can't accept that. The difference is that Saddam thought he could actually pull it off. If we manage to secure peace in this region, it will only be because we have persuaded them all, and the Palestinian leadership first and foremost, that destroying Israel is impossible, even if we show what they perceive as weakness by compromising about land. This is what the current Terror War with the Palestinians is all about. And even then, we will always have to watch our backs, even after peace is a fait accompli.