It's enormously frustrating that the Europeans, Japanese, Middle Easterners, and others don't seem to notice that Saddam Hussein aspires to be a global force and is ruthlessly prepared to sacrifice anyone and anything, including the Iraqi population, toward this end. Or that he has two realistic routes to power: militarily (by possessing weapons of mass destruction) and economically (by gaining control over the oil and gas reserves in the Persian Gulf region). Perhaps the Europeans et al. do understand the problem but prefer to let the Americans handle the problem.
Instead of berating those governments to follow its lead, as it always does, Washington should scare them. Call it child psychology. Rather than insist they join in efforts against Saddam, the secretary of state should address them as follows:
You object to our overflights, bombings, economic sanctions, and inspections. Fine, have it your way; they are stopping tomorrow. Better yet, we will pull our forces from the Persian Gulf region.
Saddam is now yours to deal with. We will watch with interest how you— who live closer to Iraq than we, depend more on Persian Gulf oil and gas than we, and have a less powerful military than we—decide how to deal with him.
We're not abandoning you. Should you change your mind and conclude that containing or ousting Saddam is in fact the right decision, we'll be happy to join your efforts. But know that we will have some pre-conditions: No more carping from the sidelines. Instead, you must overtly request our help and then publicly support our efforts with words, funding, and troops.
It may look dangerous, but this is a nearly riskless approach. At worst, it notches down our Iraqi strategy which has already failed. At best, it scares the Europeans, Japanese, and Middle Easterners into taking action.
Realizing they can no longer freeride on the sidelines, throwing brickbats at the United States; they will have to make adult decisions. There is every reason to think that self-preservation will cause them to come to Washington pleading for help. (September 30, 1997)
Dec. 3, 1997 update: For a later version of this argument in the Washington Post, see "Why Go It Alone [versus Iraq]?"
