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February 09, 2004
No more Afghanistans?
The "war against terrorism" has turned into a seemingly hopeless dispute over whether Bush lied. Whether there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is being presented as the grand national question. If no WMD, then "Bush lied," the war is illegitimate, and Americans died for absolutely no reason at all. Bush's interview with Tim Russert has been widely dissected in the blogosphere. Typical analysis here. (Via Glenn Reynolds.) Yet the big news -- reported only with the greatest reluctance -- is the al Qaida connection with Iraq. Central to that debate is whether or not they were there when Saddam Hussein was alive, or have filtered in since. In order to accept the view that Iraq has been invaded by al Qaeda since (and, I guess, because of) the U.S. overthrow of Saddam Hussein, one has to see Saddam Hussein as the guy who kept them out. For whatever reason. This strains credulity (and I have presented evidence pointing to the opposite conclusion), but for the sake of argument let us assume it is true. That means that al Qaida is now in Iraq in order to fight and kill Americans. Otherwise, why would they have gone in? When was the last time Americans were reminded of Afghanistan? I can't help notice that there hasn't been much talk of Afghanistan in the news lately. Might that be because the public support of that phase of the war was strong? Might another reason be that it is harder to present as a quagmire? Originally, Afghanistan was seen as home to Al Qaida and bin Laden. And the deal (as announced by Bush) was supposed to be, wherever you guys are, we'll go in and get you! (In case anyone has forgotten, that's because al Qaida carried out the September 11 attacks, which is why we went to war!) Iraq has been spun as many things. "NO BLOOD FOR OIL!" "No Weapons of Mass Destruction Found!" "Bush lied! people died!" Vietnam (of course) is the latest. Kerry is the current high priest of the cult of no-more-Vietnams. But it's looking more and more like Afghanistan to me. And, as this blogger says, it's good enough to be a "campaign commercial for Bush": Picture of Zarqawi [Iraqi al Qaida op] - text: "By God, this is suffocation!"
posted by Eric on 02.09.04 at 03:24 PM
Comments
Well, at least instead of Taliban atrocities, they're now getting training in gender awareness! Eric Scheie · February 10, 2004 11:28 AM Our "success" looks like it lead to a great opium crop and great cash flow for al Qaida: Chester · February 10, 2004 03:46 PM Thanks for that link! It is appalling to read drivel like this: "Fighting drug trafficking equals fighting terrorism." Pure doublespeak; the only reason opium has such a ricidulously inflated value is because of the drug laws. (Increased supply might drive prices down, however -- and might even hurt terrorists.) I could say, more truthfully, "Fighting drug laws equals fighting terrorism!" If drugs were rendered worthless, the terrorists would have to find other sources of funds. (As it is, more of their money comes from Saudi oil than anywhere else. If American drug addicts are "guilty" of funding terrorism, then American drivers are the guiltiest of all!) Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is a long and proud tradition, and I am sorry to see the new government has criminalized it. By the way, my contrast of the public rationale for these two wars is not a suggestion that Afghanistan has become a paradise. Still, I think they're better off now than they were with the Taliban.
Eric Scheie · February 10, 2004 06:33 PM |
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Actually, the only reports I've heard on Afghanistan say that the situation has stagnated there, possibly even worsened, because of so much time, effort, and manpower going to Iraq.