ABSTRACT
Even though the market immediately revived, the drop gave New York and the nation a little glimpse of the unexpected consequences that might come with the much-expected war against Saddam Hussein. Conservatives pushing for war like to insist that Iraqi soldiers and officers have lost spirit since their ostensible defeat in the Gulf War in 1991, but in fact there is no real proof of that. The group that war enthusiasts in Washington put the most faith in, the Iraqi National Congress based in London, is essentially only a political organization, has no men under arms and is constantly being punished by the US Congress for misuse of funds. When the New York stock market can fall just because careless dreams become rumor and rumor comes to seem fact, then the vision of marching easily to Baghdad is something we’d better scrutinize carefully.
