Let's talk Iraq

[mopeder]

QUOTE:
“… the President just said something extraordinarily revealing and frankly very important in this debate. … , he just said “the enemy attacked us.” Saddam Hussein didn’t attack us, OSAMA bin Laden attacked us, al-QAEDA attacked us. And when we had OSAMA … cornered in the mountains of TORA BORA …, with the America military forces nearby … , we didn’t use the best trained troops in the world to go kill the world’s #1 criminal & terrorist. They outsourced the job to Afghan warlords, who only a week earlier had been … fighting against us, … . That’s the enemy that attacked us, that’s the enemy that was allowed to walk out of those mountains, that’s the enemy that is now in 60 countries with stronger recruits.” ~ Senator John Kerry (Sept-30-2004)


During the debate G W Bush said that Iraq was the center of the war on terror. That’s just not true. John Kerry was right about Afghanistan being the center of the focus on the war on terror. Instead of getting the job done in Afghanistan which would be capturing or killing OSAMA bin Laden and destroying the al-QAEDA forces there, Bush unnecessarily invaded Iraq. And now terrorists are pouring over Iraq’s border from the surrounding countries of the Middle East to kill U.S. soldiers. These are terrorists from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc.
While Saddam Hussein was in power there were almost no terrorists in Iraq. Now as a result of the war in Iraq, Bush has unwittingly increased the spread of terrorism instead of lessening it.
Bush also stated during the debate that Iraq would have gotten stronger if something wasn’t done. That’s just not true. Kerry said the sanctions, the north and south no-fly zones were working, the weapons inspections were ongoing. The U.S. was conducting air strikes when necessary. Saddam’s regime was getting weaker, and weaker, and would have continued to weaken. The assessment Kerry gave was accurate. When the U.S. invaded, Iraq could barely defend itself and crumbled from the onslaught.
Now out on the campaign trail Bush is saying that Iraq was a danger. That’s just not true. What Kerry said was in agreement with the findings of the 9/11 commission that there were no weapons of mass destruction, and no links to al-QAEDA, or involvement by Iraq in the 9/11 attacks.
Bush made a mistake when he invaded Iraq, and it has needlessly cost the lives of U.S. soldiers, American civilians, and others. The capture of Saddam was the only good thing that happened.
The danger to the U.S. was and still is from al-QAEDA, not Iraq. Bush should stop using misleading rhetoric, and tell the truth. I know, that’s just not likely.

http://www.votolatino.org

[livius drusus]

Couldn't agree more, mopeder. Welcome to FF.

[Shake]

Report: No WMDs stockpiles in Iraq

If that doesn't about say it all, I don't know what does.

[mopeder]

QUOTE:
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" ~ Emerson

With George W. Bush, we have a man who failed in two businesses of his own. On taking office, he inherited a huge surplus and turned it into the largest deficit in history.

He is the first president since Herbert Hoover to lose jobs in the national economy.

Iraq is a disaster. He talks tough on terrorism but leaves our chemical plants unguarded and unprotected from terrorists and our shipping containers unscanned by any bomb-searching devices.

Instead of spending the money available to protect us, he uses it to give his contributors (billionaires) a large tax cut.

And he's tough on terrorism? When he walks with a swagger and talks tough, how many terrorists does he scare?

He doesn't even like to read in order to study the issues involved. How can he possibly know what's going on?

He is further threatening one of our oldest and most successful institutions, Social Security, with a "privatization" scheme that will no doubt be as disasterous as his other initiatives.

The only reason he has given for his re-election is in his attempted smear of his opponent, claiming John Kerry is unfit while offering more of the same disasters.

Bush has been proven over and over again to be totally incompetent and unfit for the job. His re-election would be a catastrophe unparalleled in our history.

[Godless Dave]

Originally Posted by mopeder

And he's tough on terrorism? When he walks with a swagger and talks tough, how many terrorists does he scare?

That's pretty much the extent of his anti-terror strategy. It's not about scaring terrorists, it's about impressing gullible voters with how macho he is.