Monday, October 25, 2004

More Illogic From Bush on Terrorism--And More Failures

Today Bush is claiming Zarqawi's activities in Iraq are evidence that going into Iraq wasn't a diversion from the war on terrorism. He forgets that if he had finished the job in Afghanistan rather than going into Iraq, we wouldn't be seeing terrorism in Iraq. The major terrorist problems in Iraq have occured as a result of the United States attack. Previous terrorist activity was primarily limited to the portions of Iraq under United States, not Iraqui, control.

Bush claims a benefit in fighting the terrorists in Iraq rather than elsewhere. By that logic, we should destabilize additional countries should we ever get out of Iraq.

Besides failing to complete the mission in Afghanistan, Bush missed other opportunities, per this article from eariler in the year:

Avoiding attacking suspected terrorist mastermind
Abu Musab Zarqawi blamed for more than 700 killings in Iraq


By Jim Miklaszewski
Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 7:14 p.m. ET March 2, 2004

With Tuesday’s attacks, Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant with ties to al-Qaida, is now blamed for more than 700 terrorist killings in Iraq.

But NBC News has learned that long before the war the Bush administration had several chances to wipe out his terrorist operation and perhaps kill Zarqawi himself--but never pulled the trigger.

In June 2002, U.S. officials say intelligence had revealed that Zarqawi and members of al-Qaida had set up a weapons lab at Kirma, in northern Iraq, producing deadly ricin and cyanide.

The Pentagon quickly drafted plans to attack the camp with cruise missiles and airstrikes and sent it to the White House, where, according to U.S. government sources, the plan was debated to death in the National Security Council.

"Here we had targets, we had opportunities, we had a country willing to support casualties, or risk casualties after 9/11 and we still didn’t do it," said Michael O’Hanlon, military analyst with the Brookings Institution.

Four months later, intelligence showed Zarqawi was planning to use ricin in terrorist attacks in Europe.

The Pentagon drew up a second strike plan, and the White House again killed it. By then the administration had set its course for war with Iraq.

"People were more obsessed with developing the coalition to overthrow Saddam than to execute the president's policy of preemption against terrorists" according to terrorism expert and former National Security Council member Roger Cressey.

In January 2003, the threat turned real. Police in London arrested six terror suspects and discovered a ricin lab connected to the camp in Iraq.

The Pentagon drew up still another attack plan, and for the third time, the National Security Council killed it.

Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi's operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam.

The United States did attack the camp at Kirma at the beginning of the war, but it was too late--Zarqawi and many of his followers were gone. "Here's a case where they waited, they waited too long and now we’re suffering as a result inside Iraq," Cressey added.

And despite the Bush administration’s tough talk about hitting the terrorists before they strike, Zarqawi’s killing streak continues today.



4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

And the Bush people have a propaganda film coming out just before the election. "Voices of Iraq" will play in certain markets. I think we should boycott this film and call theaters that propose to show it and let them know that we will boycott all their theater if they dare show these lies.

12:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Having read several comments on the site I can only add my sincere desire to see George W Bush defeated in the upcoming election and Senator Kerry installed as the new President. As a UK citizen I have become more and more disillusioned with the way in which the, so-called, 'alliance' has both waged war in the middle-east and then tried to justify the actions with half-truths and blatant lies. A current documentary series airing in the UK, 'The power of nightmares' by the excellent independent producer Adam Curtis, is a powerful indictment of the neo-conservative tendency in the US administration(Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolferwitz etc.) and documents the links between the neo-conservatives and Bin Laden and his mentors over many years.

It is time to send George Bush (or rather the neo-conservative pupeteers) 'packing' and give the world a chance to come together and solve the problems of Iraq, Palestine, Africa, Rich/Poor divide, Global warming AND Terrorism without the vested interests sabotaging/ vetoeing all reasonable efforts by the UN and Europe.

History clearly shows us that ONLY a negotiated, collaborative and concerted approach to the issues mentioned above will be successful. Continued violence, mistrust and instability will serve only to make the US, Europe and the rest-of-the-world an UNSAFE place.

As a citizen of Europe and the World I implore all Americans to cast their vote for John Kerry next week.

M R Green UK

3:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, with negociation we can have peace in our time.

7:51 PM  
Blogger Ron Chusid said...

Through a policy of wisdom and strength as advocated by John Kerry we can have peace and security.

By ignoring the real problems of today, as George Bush ignored the problem of terrorism despite warnlings before 9/11, George Bush's policies lead to perpetual war without security. Bush's policies play into the terrorist's hands and will continue the problem.

6:27 AM  

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