Based upon what evidence? Are you a psychic?
Hawk, many of us and I am sure including you form our opinions based on our life experiences. I have stated on several threads that I spent a good deal of time overseas growing up with the people in those countries.
In those parts of the world, there is a lot of wheeling and dealing, many of them very unethical and would not in any way come close to the level of ethics that our politicians indulge in. They (which includes the Iraqis) are paper tigers. We saw that in 1991 and then now when the US military went in. Besides being all talk, they also lie. So the WMD was all a hoax. WMDs can be manufactured very quickly and they can be destroyed very quickly. So why would they maintain a stockpile. It is convenient for them to lie. So they lied and now the US is left holding the bag in front of the world community. In Saddam's books that is his victory, however convoluted that may sound to you and me.
Now on the issue of the Al Qaeda link. When Saddam attacked Kuwait (a Muslim country) his standing in the Muslim countries went down like a free fall. I was reading several newspaper editorials from the Middle East countries then and they criticized Saddam and branded him a non-Muslim. There were Muslim zealots in Egypt, SA etc. crying out for his blood. That is why you had some Muslim countries join the 1991 coalition and come to the defence of the Muslim country of Kuwait. Not because they were friends of the US. But because they wanted to push Saddam out from the Muslim country of Kuwait. And Al Qaeda, which has always used Islam as a rallying cry would never support Saddam since in their books he is anti Muslim. You just have to know the thought process of some of these Islamic followers, not all Islamic believers think the way Osama (Al Qaeda followers)think. To Osama and his men, Saddam is evil.
Now the tie between Taliban and Osama is something I believe to be true. They are tied to the hip because of their Islamic thoerocracy. But Saddam, he was a bully. If you disagreed with him, if you did not take his two sons to be his successor, you are done. As far as Saddam is concerned you could have gone against the Islamic belief and indulge in wine, women, not growing a beard etc. etc.. He would care less as long as you bow down to him, his sons and the Sunnis from Tikrit. He did not even care when his grandchildren's father went against him. He had him killed on his return to Iraq after he defected. That is pure dynastic rivalry, tribal rivalry with the Kurds etc. etc. not terrorism as Bush and his men categoize. Bush's read is way off base. |
