Orange Alert: Do you feel safer?

[scottcsmith]

When the United States military yanked a confused and disheveled Saddam Hussein from a dirt cellar in Tikrit, pundits everywhere spoke of how much safer the U.S. and the world was now that Hussein was in our custody.

How are we safer?

From the end of the first Gulf war in 1991, until now, Saddam Hussein hasn't been a threat to anyone. True, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he killed his own people, but by 1998 (the year many have suggested Saddam destroyed his WMDs) Saddam was not a threat.

Although Bush himself said there was no connection between the attacks on 9/11 and Saddam Hussein, the connection continues to be implied.

However, our terrorist threat level was recently raised to orange -- with Saddam behind bars -- and it's clear that the real threat to the United States continues to be Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Did we spend enough time in Afghanistan? We had some success with Operation Enduring Freedom, but it wasn't long before warlords assumed control of villages and imposed Taliban-style rule.

Osama Bin Laden remains at large.

Taliban forces outside of Afghanistan continue to be a threat. Why did we divert attention from the war against terrorism to Iraq? The Iraqi military was no match for us. Saddam's forces were quickly dealt with and Saddam was driven into hiding. We've poured billions of dollars into Iraq, have lost hundreds of lives, and injured thousands. All to yank a man out of a dirt cellar.

Our boogeyman is behind bars. And Osama Bin Laden's forces are preparing to possibly attack the United States again.

Do I feel safer with Saddam behind bars?
No.

Would I feel safer with Osama Bin Laden behind bars?
Fuck yes.

And until the terror alert goes back to yellow, the country will be sharing a collective anxiety. If the terrorists attack again, what will they do? And where will they strike?

But at least Saddam is in custody.

[diamond14]

1. IMO, these robo-cops are scary....frightening just about everyone

here in OUR Nation's Capital....

check out this photo in the WP yesterday....a normal law-abiding citizen is simply terrified of OUR own government, fearful to go to a museum or visit the Nation's Capital over the holidays...it's just a matter of time before these killer cops pull the trigger on a bunch of tourists...

[jbfam4]

2. Well said, Scott.

Last week we were supposed to feel safer because we got Sadism. At least, that is what all the talkingheads told us.

This week the terror alert levels are up so we are not as safe .....hummmm guess Sadism had nothing to do with our safety.

The real questions should be do you feel safe with Dubya in the white house?

Absolutely not!

[radfringe]

3. this Holiday Orange-Alert means

Bush* has FAILED to make us safer

leaving a job half done in Afghanistan in order to invade Iraq on the premise of non-existent WMD's means Bush* has failed