al Qaeda in Iraq, before US Invasion
In the wake of the prime-time Presidential address, the buzz in the MSM is that Mr. Bush, in his speech, inappropriately mentioned 9/11, bin Ladin and Iraq in the same context: the global War on Terror. The typical claim are that “Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11” and “al Qaeda was not in Iraq before the US invasion”. As it happens, despite popular belief, both assumptions are incorrect.With respect to the mass murder on 9/11, Eric sheds light on the bin Ladin/Iraq connection. In the post, Eric quotes from Usama bin Ladin’s Fatwah, which is his formal declaration of war. Here’s another excerpt:
The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies--civilians and military--is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy mosque from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim. This is in accordance with the words of Almighty God, "and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together," and "fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God."Why, one might ask, should bin Ladin expect that “every Muslim” would heed his call to Jihad? The answer is>“People were more obsessed with developing the coalition to overthrow Saddam than to execute the president’s policy of preemption against terrorists,” according to terrorism expert and former National Security Council member Roger Cressey.
[…]
Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi’s operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam.Huh? Let me get this straight…Bush should have preemptively attacked an al Qaeda camp in Iraq (you know, that which supposedly wasn’t there), but should not have preemptively attacked the Iraqi dictator who allowed said camp to operate? While it is true that the above quote is from “military officials”, the tenor is reminiscent of others in the press who, implicitly and explicitly, deride the 2003 move on Iraq. And now, a bit of unsolicited advice from yours truly to the pontificating protestors: pick an argument and stick with it; preferably one that is consistent with the facts rather than partisan talking points…you’re welcome.
posted by Robert @ Wednesday, June 29, 2005
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