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Re: Bush's Idiot Status Not About Right or Left -- It's About Being Wrong
Okay, let's go chase this horse around the barnyard one more time.
Were WMDs and al Qaeda presence the only reasons for invading Iraq? Absolutely not. Goals for the invasion included:
- Overthrow of the Saddam regime;
- Liberation of the Iraqis from tyranny;
- Elimination of the Baathist’s intitutionalized rape and torture;
- Elimination of WMD threat;
- Elimination of Iraq as a funder and safe haven for terrorism; and,
- Formation of a new, democratic, constitutional government.
I don't have the citation of it handy, but I'm sure if you look up the appropriate speech at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ you'll find it. It would have been during the buildup to the invasion. Be that as it may - wsa it wrong to eliminate Iraq as an exporter of terrorism agaisnt Israel? To eliminate Saddam as a threat to neighboring countries? To put an end to his torture chambers?
posted by
WriterofLight
on May 15, 2008 at 9:06 PM
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Bush's Idiot Status Not About Right or Left -- It's About Being Wrong
Your comments on Edwards may be to the point. I dislike as much as you do the hypocrisy often shown by politicians, and the double standards. But the line chastizing liberals for thinking Bush is an idiot with regard to the war in Iraq misses the point.
Being critical of Bush isn't about right or left when it comes to Iraq. It has been documented that Bush ordered American troops into Iraq largely on the basis of inaccurate, if not false, intelligence about weapons of mass destruction.
Further, Bush used the affirmation of an Al Quaeda presence in Iraq as a justification for launching the war that was sure to have universal appeal. After all, who likes Al Quaeda?
There was only one problem. Al Quaeda had no presence in Iraq -- and Bush knew that before ordering American troops into action. But that's not what he told the American people.
However, evidence is mounting that the American introduction of troops to Iraq in fact created a wonderful opportunity for Al Quaeda to make its entrance, set up a recruiting drive, and begin its share of killing and maiming thousands of innocent Iraqis, and American and British soldiers. The strategic error of Himalayan proportions with regard to Iraq was considering how to fill the space left by Sadam's removal. As we saw increasingly documented, not too much thought had been given to that part. Oops.
The American presence in Iraq also has made it more difficult to justify the continuing struggle by NATO forces, including the United States, in Afghanistan against the Taliban, and has severely stretched military resources. Afghanistan was where the line needed to be held. Recent increases in Taliban activity, even considering the season change, suggest the line isn't being held.
My conservative friends are saying that "for once the liberals got it right" in considering Bush an idiot. But when we're talking about Bush in this context it is no longer about right and left -- it is about right and wrong.
Thankfully, it appears that neither party is running a presidential nominee of Mr. Bush's caliber this time around.
Earthbeat
posted by
Earthbeat
on May 14, 2008 at 8:52 PM
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