Saddam Hussein behind bars. Osama is not. What's wrong with this picture?

[flpoljunkie]

Excellent article. Worth reading in its entirety.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0507100168jul10,1,2746695.column?coll=chi-news-col

How the U.S. shortchanged the war

by Steve Chapman

Published July 10, 2005

Saddam Hussein is behind bars. Osama bin Laden is not. What's wrong with this picture?

A lot of people in London and beyond may be asking that question. Lately, it has been possible for those of us on this side of the ocean to almost forget that our greatest challenge is the global threat of Islamic terrorism. That's because we've been preoccupied by the relentless violence and chaos in Iraq, where we are mired in a war we don't know how to win.

The speed of the Taliban's collapse gave the Bush administration the idea that with our military might, we could easily reshape the international landscape to our liking. Instead of keeping its eye on the ball in Afghanistan and other Al Qaeda hotbeds, it let itself be distracted by Saddam Hussein--a minor-league nuisance who posed no significant threat to our safety and well being. For more than a decade following the first Gulf war, the United States and its allies had managed to contain him. But suddenly, that wasn't good enough. President Bush decided to liberate Iraq from his rule--and in doing so, he blundered into a long and costly war that has stretched our military to the breaking point.

<>We've poured more than $200 billion down the drain in Iraq. If even a small part of that money had been spent on homeland security, Americans would undoubtedly be safer today. U.S. soldiers might have been used to hunt down those enemies who want to carry out atrocities here or in Britain, instead of fighting insurgents who merely want us out of Iraq.

The war on Iraq was never vital to our security. The war on terror is. So why do we keep fighting the former at the expense of the latter?

[Jack Rabbit]

1. Steve Chapman is not exactly a progressive

This is the point. Bush has so completely blundered the war on terror that it is possible to attack him from any point on the political spectrum.

The regime's rationales for its policies are bankrupt. There is no longer any honest reason to support this regime or its policies. Those who continue to support Bush look likes fools or partisan hacks.

[jojo54]

2. Hey, the person connected with 9/11 is locked up in *'s eyes

so it's correct. Isn't everything he says correct? :sarcasm: