Reply #69: The left was proved right once again in Madrid last Thursday

[Jack Rabbit]

I wish that were not true, but it is.

Since the invasion of Iraq, al Qaida has again made its presence in the world known. On May 12, 2003, a bomb went off in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, killing 34 people. Another bomb in Riyadh on November 8 killed 18 people and injured over 100. On November 15, bombs exploded outside two synagogues in Istanbul, killing 23 and injuring over 300. Last week, bombs blew up in three train stations in Madrid, killing 200. Al Qaida either has claimed responsibility or is suspected in each of these attacks.

The war on terrorism is being lost. Al Qaida is no less able to inflict harm with a dramatic attack where and when it desires today than it was on September 11, 2001.

This was predictable. It was pointed in in many speeches at anti-war rallies last year that invading Iraq would do nothing to alleviate the problem of international terrorism.

Since Saddam had little (it turned out, in fact, that he had nothing) to give to terrorists and since Saddam had no close associations with any terrorist organization, least of all al Qaida, it simply was not possible to address the problem of terrorism by invading Iraq.

The invasion had nothing to do with terrorism. Whether Mr. Bush and his aides knew this is another issue, but it is almost certain that they did.

Once again, the left was right.