No real surprise. The decision was clearly made last summer. And it’s not hard to figure out the motives and operations of Bush & Co.
But why on earth is Saddam Hussein making it so easy for them?
The smart move from his viewpoint would have been to comply with the inspections process; stuff is always replaceable. The one thing he needed to avoid at all costs was creating a consensus that he needs to be taken out. But that’s precisely what he’s done.
A friend of mine had what I think is the right diagnosis: “Wily, but not smart.” And that puts a serious dent in the argument that SH is rational enough to be deterrable.
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out.
Books:
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken)
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist
Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993)
Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989)
UCLA Homepage
Curriculum Vitae
Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com
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