Noocyte:
Thanks for rising to the rhetorical bait! I was frustrated by the failure of the you neocons to respond and my intent was to start the dialog that you have begun.
Thank you!
My problem with your argument is that the attack on the US on 9/11 was done by an obscure but very dedicate and well disciplined group of terrorists with absolutely not relationship to Iraq. Cheney, Rumsfield, et al were looking for a reason to attack Iraq long before the 9/11 as a way to forcing “democracy” on a recalcitrant Mid East regime. The Bush invasion of Iraq was not a response to 9/11 but rather 9/11 was an excuse to play out neocon fantasies – particularly replaying Viet Nam and ending in a “vistory”.
Anyone with knowledge of the history of Iraq and what actually happened in Viet Nam knew from the beginning that this would end in failure, as it has.
Trying to explain the neocon response to 9/11 as “a bold system perturbation in the heart of the ancient Caliphate” is sophistry.
Did we need to make a response? Absolutely!!
But what we needed was a multidimensional response that rooted out the problem in Afghanistan and Pakistan and an adherence to our basic values.
Torture, special rendition, suspension of basic human rights, etc. only played into those who oppose us. There is real strength in ideas, something stronger than pure military might. And Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, et al didn’t understand that and have thus failed us.
