[source: NYT, Paul Krugman, March 7, 2003]
"LET THEM HATE AS LONG AS THEY FEAR," WAS A FAVORITE SAYING
OF ROMAN EMPEROR CALIGULA, BUT DESCRIBES U.S. FOREIGN POLICY,
such as bullying and threatening Mexico, as well as other
countries, asserts {New York Times} columnist Paul Krugman.
Career diplomat John Brady Kiesling, in protest against Bush
Administration policy, which he dubbed Caligula's {oderint dum metuant}, recently resigned from the Foreign Service.

The Bush Administration has issued threats against Mexico,
which has a seat on the United Nations Security Council, he
writes, in order to get it to vote in support of a resolutionauthorizing a war on Iraq. Bush alluded to the possibility of reprisals against Mexicans and Hispanics, similar to theanti-French backlash fomented by Congressional Republicans andAdministration allies, stated Krugman, were it to vote against the U.S., when he warned of "discipline" being imposed, on a March 3 interview with Copley News Service.

[Source: International Herald Tribune, March 7]
BATTLEFIELD COMMANDER GIVES UTOPIAN VISION OF HOW TO AVOID
STREET-TO-STREET FIGHTING IN BAGHDAD. Lt. Gen. Scott Wallace gave
an extensive interview with the {International Herald Tribune},
claiming that all possible steps were being made to avoid
house-to-house fighting in Baghdad, if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein chooses to make his last stand there. However, while the General goes all around Robinhood's barn in claiming that the war would be fought largely from the air, he is forced to admit at the end, that ground troops will have to be put in.

The first role of ground troops will be as "spotters" for
dropping "smart weapons" against command-and-control sites.
However, ultimately, Wallace admits that tanks, protected by
ground soldiers with engineering units in advance to clear
obstacles, would have to move into Baghdad. It is known that some 1.5 million AK-47 Kalashnikovs have been distributed to Iraqi citizens--many of whom are veterans of previous wars--so, ultimately, it will be one "grunt" walking into a booby-trapped hell against another, equally well-armed--unless, that is, the United States and United Kingdom intend to raze Baghdad to the ground.

[Source: discussion with contacts, March 5]

A TURKISH DIPLOMATIC CONTACT, WHEN BRIEFED ON THE ISRAELI
DEFENSE FORCES PAPER CALLING FOR AN ISRAELI ARMY SWEEP THROUGH A SWATH OF SYRIA, providing alternative supply routes to U.S. troops in Baghdad, replied curtly, "This would be World War III.

Because if the IDF troops try to move into Syria,
they will find themselves confronted by the Turkish Army"!

A retired U.S. Admiral, briefed on the same paper, commented, "I hope the Pentagon rejects that proposal. Anything that brings Israel into the Iraqi situation
has to be avoided .There would be nothing
worse than that. Overflight and things like that are okay, this we also do with Arab countries. It's not a problem, but {this}! I hope we're not that dumb."