Mr Eichenlaub:
Thank you for a thorough and well researched disquisition on Saddam / Al Quaeda. Anyone who would assert that cooperation between enemies is impossible should consider the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact).
The central and overriding point, however, is that those links, and the presence or absence of WMD, are secondary motivations for our invasion of Iraq. I believe the overriding concern was that the regime of non-proliferation was crumbling, and absent the global community’s willingness to enforce it, we had to step in. Unfortunately it seems we only postponed the day when many of the current players will nuke up. A nuclear-armed Iran will put enormous pressure on the other Middle East countries to protect themselves by acquiring their own nukes. The UN is toothless; if the US will not guarantee the peace then MAD becomes the most rational solution. One of the more vivid descriptions I saw of that Middle Eastern future was “think 1914, only with nuclear weapons”.
