And those 19 nhijackers aboard those 4 jets? What do you call them? The Good Guys?
I haven't seen anybody calling them the good guys. Part of the problem with the whole "axis of evil" concept is that no direct connection has been clearly shown between those evil hijackers and any of the states that make up the axis. I have not seen anybody explaining what the Iranian, North Korean, or Iraqi governments are doing that makes them any more evil than, say, the governments of Somalia, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, or any number of others. I have seen no convincing argument supporting the notion that they pose enough of a threat to the US to justify the expense and messiness of war.
I could support our involvement in Afghanistan, largely because there was the Taleban, al Quaeda, and the events of 9/11 were demonstrably connected. I would have a difficult time extending that support to action against Iraq, unless some much better cause is shown and unless a cost/benefit calculation is clearly advantageous.
One critical part of any move on Iraq is that there must be a clear goal, and by that I do not mean "get rid of Saddam". There must be a clear and practical vision of what we intend to do after getting rid of Saddam, and I see little evidence that this is being considered. Given the current demographic and power balance in Iraq, the people that look most likely to fill a power vacuum are the fundamentalist Shiites in the south, and their ascension to power would hardly serve our interests. |
