My View by Silvio Canto, Jr.: 1998 and the week that Clinton bombed Iraq and got impeached

Twenty-two years ago this week, I was having lunch at a local grill and watching two scenes on the TV. On one side, U.S. planes were bombing Iraq, and on the other, the U.S. House was voting to impeach President Clinton. It was historic, as my lunch guest kept saying.

We remember another anniversary of the Clinton impeachment. It comes at a time when "sexual misconduct" charges have brought down politicians and media personalities. Who would have believed that in 1998?

As for Iraq, President Clinton warned us that it was necessary to "degrade" Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

There were many back then who tried to connect the bombing with the impeachment, or sort of the real-world version of the movie Wag the Dog.

Frankly, I didn't, because I was one of those back in 1998 who favored confronting Saddam Hussein over the weapons. I felt that a Saddam with so much military capability would eventually provoke a regional war involving Israel.

Back then, I did not think I would live to see another impeachment, but President Trump was a year ago. As for Iraq, I had a feeling we would fight at some point, and we did five years later.

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Sunday, December 20, 1998

1998 and the week that Clinton bombed Iraq and got impeached