To The Editor:

A common perception of Americans abroad is that we have short memories, and short attention spans. Comparatively speaking it is true. That’s why I thought that a short primer of similar US military operations in the Mideast is apropos in the wake of this attack on Iran. I preface this by asserting that I am neither for or against this operation, just doing what I always do, which is an analysis of similarities and differences.

In 1991, the US lead a United Nations sanctioned coalition of troops in making war on Iraq for its invasion and annexation of its oil rich neighbor, Kuwait. At the time Iraq had an active nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs. There was a swift defeat and surrender, but the operation caused Shiites in the south of Iraq and Kurds in the north to rise up in hopes of overthrowing their ruthless dictator, Saddam Hussein. We departed in advance of their success, but with conditions that included “no fly zones” over the country’s north and south to protect the Shiites and Kurds, and that Iraq destroying all of its nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.

Thus began 10 years of US and UN struggles to protect Iraq’s minorities and ensure that he did indeed destroy Iraq’s weapons. That necessitated having to maintain a large and active military presence in Persian Gulf, and included three US bombings of that nation under then President Bill Clinton in1993, 1996, and 1998.

After 9/11, the new Bush administration put Iraq on a list of residual threats to US and world security that would need to be dealt with through regime change. And after a long period of the US trying to convince the UN to sanction the endeavor, we decided to move ahead with the few allies we had in our March 2003 invasion. As you might remember, Iraq’s suspected weapons were no where to be found, and our attempts at rebuilding Iraq as a freedom-loving and prosperous democracy were a long, bitter, and bloody failure.

One thing’s now for sure: We live in interesting times.

Randi Kiely

Newtown