Just to bring it all out, I went looking for historical stuff about the Iraq situation in 1998. In light of what we now know, this stuff is absolutely fascinating. This "Iraq Special Report" from the Washington Post is incredible. It puts the whole thing in fine perspective. What did Clinton think of Iraq?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...prez022298.htm
Referring delicately to the "present difficulty we're having with Iraq," Clinton cautioned, "It is not a replay of what happened in 1991. It is a forerunner of what could or could not happen in 2010, 2020, in 2030."
He understands the danger, underestimates the time-frame. And notice, tw, he disagrees with you; even Clinton knew Hussein had dangerous stuff, in 1998:
Pulling out an underlined copy of a recently declassified CIA report on Iraq's biological and chemical weapons capability, Clinton, said one official, ordered aides to beef up his speech with more of the details about Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's efforts to frustrate the will of the United Nations.
There was some moral dilemma, and some concern that the bombing wouldn't do the trick. The latter concern remained true, as Hussein remained a problem:
Clinton's top foreign policy advisers found their policy picked apart simultaneously by people who questioned what gave Clinton the moral right to launch attacks, and others who worried those attacks would not be robust enough to really damage the Baghdad regime.
"It's a typical Clinton solution," said Robert Zoellick, who was undersecretary of state in the Bush administration. "The question is, where do you find ourselves six months or a year from now."
"Unless the military strike is more robust than anything the administration has signaled, Zoellick said, Clinton's response is "designed for domestic political consumption" so that he can tell people he has punished Saddam Hussein -- even if the Iraqi is no weaker over the long-term."
That turned out to be exactly correct, eh?
On the question of what Gore would do, Gore admired the Clinton approach:
This episode marks the fifth confrontation with Iraq. "He was always good, but he has grown in the job," Vice President Gore said Friday. "He is very sure-footed, very focused, very decisive."
And in the end, unfortunately for the world, very ineffective.