Hijexx wrote:

] I am so goddamn sick of people tying 9/11 to this
] ill-conceived conquest in the Middle East. The current
] leaders don't give a shit about our security. They still
] cooperate with terrorists and nations that fund them if it
] serves US interests.
]
] There is a strong case for showing the Bush administration's
] complicity in the 9/11 attacks. For example, look at our
] relationship with Pakistan. We turned a blind eye to their
] DIRECT FUNDING of Mohammed Atta. Any effective investigation
] of 9/11 has been shelved. More background:
]
] http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO111A.html
]
] There are still plenty of unanswered questions. Rather than
] actually investigate and try to root out the base of
] operations for the 9/11 terrorists, we're conquering Iraq.
] Figure that one out.

You're right. There's no question that there's blood on Washington's hands too. And the US will continue to use the 'stick and carrot' method of diplomacy around the world. But that doesn't change our agenda and certainly not our strategy. Even when the 'war' is 'over', there will still people that hate us (more even), but they will be at our disposal.

I think the article that Tom posted is dead on in terms of tactical cues, but it's too narrow in its scope. It's not just Al Qaeda we're at war with. It's any force that is opposed to the peace and security obtained from the US's perspective of being the singular superpower. So that includes any organization, not just states, that seek to disrupt or otherwise marginalize our power on the globe. The list of which, might end up being surprising.

So with that in mind, I don't think that the full motivation behind invading Iraq is necessarily to undermine Al Q. It's more a convenience factor for the US. It solves several objectives:

o Eliminate Saddam Hussein and his regime. For obvious reasons.
o Open up the most progressive Arabic state to be a friendly ally with the US/UK. This bodes well financially as well as politically.
o Utilize our new found democratic and liberated friend, Iraq, as the cultural, financial, political, and influential base to spread across the Arabic/Islamic world. This is essentially what the Soviets tried to do, but failed in that they never had the opportunity to truly control a government in this way.
o Utilize the display of our military force as an example of what might befall anyone else who we deem 'against us'.
o Give American's the second dose of 'we feel good about ourselves because we just kicked so much ass.' This will help the economy, spread some peace and security around the country, and boost the current administration's popularity numbers.

So I agree with the article that this is definitely a component of a much larger operation. The ultimate goal of this operation is to relatively squelch the power and influence of any organization to challenge the US's monopolistic hold on the world's affairs. It is, quite frankly, imperialism at its finest. The war won't end until the US can honestly say we have achieved a level of peace and security worldwide which is relatively at the hands of the US. Realistically, that could take decades.

With all that having been said, I think that I've gravitated more hawk than dove, but really I'm more pissed off now than I was before. The reason being that obviously this is the plan that Bush has hatched, and it's a very good one and certainly one that is complex and brilliant in execution. But that's not what is being conveyed to the American people. Or even the Europeans. I doubt that Poweel went to Europe with this plan as the explanation. They went with 'we have evidence of WMD and Saddam's regime helps support Al Q.' That's not the same thing. And it's certainly not what the American people who shop at WalMart and have flags on their SUV's are thinking this whole thing is about. Fer cryinoutloud dude... level with us. We're going to be fighting for a long time, and paying a lot of bills, and oh, in the process, we might just lose a battle or two. Give it to us straight, so that we can be prepared. In contrast, I just feel snowed and lied to. Why this surprises me, I don't know.

RE: War. Still a Good Idea.