Whatever you may think about whether the Iraq war was justified, and I think we know what you think, it was a vastly different thing from "undesirable dictatorial republics" in Africa. Consider a few facts.
1. Iraq is, as far as I know (I'm sure some here will correct me if I'm wrong) the only country to have used WMD in large scale military actions (against both Iran and the Kurds and, not yet proved but likely, Gulf I) in the past 20 years.
2. Iraq was known -- not thought, known -- to have had WMD during the 1990s. They had been directed by the UN to dismantle them, and had failed to provide evidence that they had done so.
3. Whether or not you think Iraq was involved in 9-11, and the evidence of direct involvement is weak, though not nonesixtent, they were certainly openly hostile to the US and US interests in a way that no African dictatorship is, and would have been delighted to have been able to assist in an attack on US soil.
4. Our intelligence about Arab countries has been weak for some time. Let's not forget that Clinton bombed what was clearly not a chemical weapons facility, whatever it was. That was the best intelligence he had, and he had had many years in office to oversee and supervise the intelligence forces prior to that attack. It's not as though intelligence weaknesses sprang up from nowhere when Bush was inagurated.
5. After 9-11, the reality of large scale attacks on the US mainland became a reality for the first time in the present generation's experience. The threat of biological and chemical weapons and "dirty bombs" attacks suddenly became (and still is) a credible and significant threat. A successful biological or chemical infiltration of the Los Angeles water system could cause deaths that would make 9-11 pale by comparison. (Whether or not you think clearing out that portion of the US would be a good or a bad thing, it would be horrific.)
All of these factors, plus let us not forget Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and creation of a huge environmental nightmare by blowing up Kuwait's oil wells and setting them on fire, put Iraq in a whole different league from "undesirable dictatorial republics" in Africa.
I'm not saying these things did or did not justify the war. That remains debatable, with good points to be made on both sides. But your putting Iraq in the same ball park with African nations which have no known WMD programs, have never used WMD, and don't have large Muslim populations from which jihad warriors can be drawn, make your attempt to compare them well below your usual standard of discussion. |
