Before Bashir al-Assad, there was Saddam Husein. Throwback Thursday remembers Colin Powell’s speech at the United Nations Security Council where he stated America’s case to strike Iraq. We all remember what happened afterwards, from “Mission: Accomplished” to Mosul. A snippet of the speech is below.
A tired West has seen this movie before and many have come out against further military action against autocratic regimes. However these days it seems that there may be a different ending. The deliberations over possible military action in Syria have caused many Westerners to reevaluate the need or even the desire to depose tyrants. The British backed down after tense debate in Parliament, and the United States has decided to forgo military strikes in favor of talks with Syria, weapons inspectors, and The New York Times’ newest columnist, Vladimir Putin. We can only hope that these talks bear fruit that will last.
As for Pope Francis, he seems to have a pretty simple response to anyone who’s a little trigger happy right now…
War never again! Never again war!
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) September 2, 2013
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Cover photo courtesy of flickr user FreedomHouse
