Iraq was not a terrorist threat, but America has turned it into one

[T_i_B]

Great article from the UK Scotsman. This is more proof of what many DUer's have been saying for well over a year, that the invasion of Iraq was not a war to end terror but a war that has only served to breed terror. I personally was opposed to the war principally because IMO Iraq & Al-Quaida were not linked. Make of this what you will.

http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/opinion.cfm?id=919062003

THE bombing on Tuesday of the UN headquarters in Baghdad was the latest evidence that America has taken a country that was not a terrorist threat and turned it into one.

Of course, we should be glad that the Iraq war was swifter than even its proponents had expected, and that a vicious tyrant was removed from power. But the aftermath has been another story. America has created - not through malevolence but through negligence - precisely the situation the Bush administration has described as a breeding ground for terrorists: a state unable to control its borders or provide for its citizens’ rudimentary needs.

As the administration made clear in its national security strategy released last September, weak states are as threatening to American security as strong ones. Yet its inability to get basic services and legitimate governments up and running in post-war Afghanistan and Iraq - and its pursuant reluctance to see a connection between those failures and escalating anti-American violence - leave one wondering if it read its own report.

As bad as the situation inside Iraq may be, the effect that the war has had on terrorist recruitment around the globe may be even more worrisome. Even before the coalition troops invaded, a senior US counter-terrorism official told reporters that "an American invasion of Iraq is already being used as a recruitment tool by al-Qaeda and other groups". Intelligence officials in the United States, Europe and Africa say that the recruits they are seeing now are younger than in the past. The occupation has given disparate groups from various countries a common battlefield on which to fight a common enemy. Hamid Mir, a biographer of Osama bin Laden, has been travelling in Iraq and told me that Hezbollah has greatly stepped up its activities not only in Shiite regions but also in Baghdad.

[DuctapeFatwa]

1. Since "terror" is now defined as opposition to the bush regime

They have turned quite a lot of places into "terror threats."

[RedEarth]

2. Excellent article

This was also run in the NY Times yesterday, and I feel the author is completely on target. Needless to say, neo-cons will never admit to something like this....thats what is truly tragic...

[Skittles]

3. like it or not

England helped

[T_i_B]

4. That is not something that we Brits are too chuffed about.

Particularly when you consider the scale on which Blair lied to us in order to appease Bush. Thanks to Blair Britain has become even more prone to terrorism, and we have enough of that already thanks to the situation in Northern Ireland.

Like I have said, this was the primary reason why I opposed this insane invasion. Iraq and Al-Quaida were not related, as Blair himself admitted before a commons select comittee. I support the war on terror so far as that I support action against Al-Quaida. However, since we entered Kabul we have seen what might comonly be called "mission creep" take over as our governments have lusted after Iraqi oil.