Agree with much of your post but I tend to take a middle road and try to be objective.
It's no surprise that the Saudi Prince knew we were going into Iraq. I think most of us knew that it would be Afghanistan and then Iraq. It's easy to look back, but the PR was clear from the beginning. After all, Saddam bragged about his capability and his payments to suicide murderers.
The US was in the mood to get the bastards who did 9/11. We digested what we saw and read and Saddam deserved it and invited it. He bluffed us by pretending to have WMD and we called him. No hand, you lose if we call. That's how it works.
In retrospect, it may have been better to wait (until Godot probably) until the foreign charade played itself out, and went strongly after the Saudi terror machine and the Pakistani duplicity in proliferation. However, as tough as the Iraqi war is, these other goals would be more difficult.
We could easily conquer Saudi Arabia but politically it would lead to 100 9/11's or worse. There are things we could do behind the scenes to get them to stop funding and teaching terror, and I only hope we are doing them.
As for Pakistan, I think we'd have a harder time militarily invading Pakistan without India's help.
The real issue is that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are supposed to be our allies and friends. Yet, it is now clear that they are more involved in terror and proliferation than Iraq.
Even though I supported the Iraq war, I now see these issues as legitimate policy areas for which there should be much debate.
Similarly the "plan" for war should be debated. I can't see why our troops seem to be sitting ducks. The Israelis seem to be able to deal effectively and efficiently with terrorists that are even more devoted. Yes, they suffer but considering the proximity to home and the clusters of population, Israel's efforts are incredible. If the Iraqis aren't willing to put together the beginnings of their own army, then we probably should let them kill each other. But it is too early to "cut and run," and Kerry has said he will not do that, to his credit.
I'd prefer to see debate on these type of issues rather than "what Bush knew when" or "Prince Saud knew when."
There are thousands of warnings that come across intelligence operative's desks. There is probably one coming across a desk today that says that OBL wants to have a nuclear bomb. It doesn't take a genius to realize that. When, where, how, etc., is not known. Same with 9/11.
Both Bush lovers and haters agree on one thing. He doesn't know much. let's stop the debate there and try to see who will do something positive and dynamic. So far, I don't see a lot of that with Kerry. |
