It's Sept. 11, which, I think, most everyone is aware of. (The above photo of Kissinger is there just to make you smile and to remind you, it's alright to have fun at the expense of public figures and/or old people.) Anway, I just had a thing or two I wanted to add to the national conversation. For all our sakes, I'll try to avoiding sounding maudlin or sanctimonious or self-righteous or glib or smug.
I just wanted to point out that Osama's still at large. And that we literally gave up the hunt for him to invade Iraq. And that Iraq had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. And that our invasion of Iraq has created new and angrier terrorists. As well as cost the lives of more Americans. And I know this comes across as such a cliche in today's political climate, but someone please tell me how Pres. Bush could have screwed up this country any worse. I think he's done wrong just about everything he could have done wrong.
And did I mention we never caught Osama.
Anyway, my point is, sometimes it's frustrating being an American.
7 comments:
Rob, is it true that our decision to invade Iraq meant giving up the search for Osama? I've honestly never heard this claim before, but I think it sound suspicious. What's the source?
I take your point and probably shouldn't have used the word "literally." Special forces were pulled from the Afghanistan/Pakistan border in early 2003 and redeployed to Iraq for the invasion, leaving the hunt for bin Laden in the hands of the Pakistani Army, which famously let bin-bin slip through their fingers in March 2003.
Then just last year, the CIA completely dissolved its bin Laden unit, the group that existed, beginning 1995, solely to hunt down and find bin Laden.
I'll see if I can dig up the old news reports and get you some links.
Yippy...politics again...
Certainly not definitive, Jense, but here's a couple links to the CIA shuttering its bin Laden unit and the redeployment of U.S. forces before the start of the Iraq invasion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/washington/04intel.html?ex=1309665600&en=3779ed9b98bb9d22&ei=5088
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-03-28-troop-shifts_x.htm
Sorry Rob, it's Bell, not Jens. Those links got cut off somehow. Can you post them again or email to me? I'm honestly curious about this whole issue as I hear it raised not too rarely.
For the record, I welcome the comments of any Ryan, be they Bells or Jenses or even Stantons.
I'll email the links since they're obviously not working in the comments section.
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