To Win in Iraq, Contain Chavez
By Scott Sullivan
04.08.05 | There are three links between US policy on Chavez and Iraq.
First, the US cannot afford to ignore Chavez and Bolivia while it focuses on Iraq. A Chavez consolidation in Bolivia would be ruinous for Bolivian stability and would threaten the region. Such instability could be a significant US distraction from Iraq.
Second, by accepting Chavez, in pro-US country that loves baseball, the US is showing that it does not stay with its friends. This is the wrong message to send to Iraq, which fears domination by Iran’s theocratic fascists.
Third, the good guys in Iraq and Venezuela will be the moderate left forces. In Venezuela, they must pull away from Chavez and fight the expansion of his empire. Chavez is a carbon copy of Hitler and Mussolini. He is making their same mistakes and will fail, but he is very dangerous nonetheless. Venezuela’s leftists and unions, who are Chavez’s next target, will be digging their own graves if they do not fight for the protection of civil liberties, as they are doing in Iraq.
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