Some war on terrorism, eh?

[Ghoulish Delight]

The point is, though, that when we went into Iraq, it was supposed to be a war on terrorism. The result? Zero progress on the war on terrorism. None. We've done nothing but take out the one leader in the area that WASN'T a friend to terrorists. Sure, he helped every once in a while, but it was only because he had a common enemy. In reality, the fundamentalists hated him, and he hated the fundamentalists. He was a secularist, and incredibly divisive becasue he made a habit of killing Arabs. Iraq was probably the LEAST threatening country, from a terrorism point of view, in the area.

Okay, Saudi Arabia is a breeding ground for terrorists. Why didn't we go after them there? You say there are other places that they could have gone to, why didn't we chase them there. Why did we instead create a brand new Terrorist Disneyland?

What it all comes down to is that everything that the pre-war detractors said could go wrong, did. That's pretty telling. You're right, war is a complicated thing. It's rare that someone has it completely right and can predict the future. So when that many people DO manage to predict the future this accurately, then those that ignored it missed some pretty obvious stuff.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

The point is, though, that when we went into Iraq, it was supposed to be a war on terrorism. The result? Zero progress on the war on terrorism. None.

I disagree again.

First and most obviously, when Qadaffi in Libya saw we were serious about removing world leaders who pursued WMD and could perhaps give those to terrorist organizations, he abandoned his programs allowing inspectors in and giving over all of his nuclear program materials.

I agree that Hussein and bin Laden were not the best of friends, but it is fact that Saddam offered him a psuedo asylum, which was rejected. There is a "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" type mentality between them.

Other countries have expelled terrorists. Qatar, Yemen, The UAE, and Pakistan, to name a few, are no longer friendly to terrorists.

Also, remember the deck of cards? I think 48 of those individuals are dead or in captivity. 80% of the leadership (as of 9/11) of Al Qaida is dead or in captivity.

And lastly, the invasion of Iraq was not in and of itself the "war on terror". It was merely a part.

No progress? Hardly.

[sleepyjeff]

[quote=Ghoulish Delight]What it all comes down to is that everything that the pre-war detractors said could go wrong, did. /QUOTE]

Actually, if I recall correctly the biggest thing many of the detractors were worried about was a massive chemical attack on our troops(funny how that went from "don't attack, our troops will be gassed" to "we told you there were no chems ) . So not everything they predicted came to pass.............