Why Iraq?

Professor Bainbridge.com ^ | 11-26-2004 | Stephen Bainbridge

[RepCath]

In a review of George Friedman's book America's Secret War, Frank Devine offers a fascinating theory as to the "Great Game" the US is playing in the Middle East.

Although the US believed Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, the WMDs were ultimately "a cover for a much deeper game". ... [In the 1990s,] al-Qa'ida ("the Base" in English) pressed its grand design for an Islamist world federation, a new Caliphate, which would ultimately match, if not dominate, other superpowers. Global terrorism would be the means. Al-Qa'ida's opening moves - attacks on American embassies and other establishments abroad - were aimed, in Friedman's opinion, less at damaging the US than provoking it to a reckless assault on Islam. ...

The passive US response to its early pinprick attacks emboldened and frustrated al-Qa'ida. The jihadists, Friedman writes, "needed to strike a blow that would be devastating, [breaching] the threshold between what was tolerable and intolerable for the US". Their initiative was the September 11, 2001, attack on New York and Washington, which shocked and disoriented the Americans. ...

[xJones]

I'm beginning to follow you around, because you post such insightful threads. If you get a ping list going, please put me on it.

Best regards

[Barlowmaker]

Breaking up the Oil for Food criminal conspiracy was enough alone to make this operation successful.

[TUX]

Forget about all the justification for the war in Iraq. The one salient fact is the juxtaposition of Iraq in the middle of the antagonist of the western world. We were caught fat, dumb,and happy in our intelligence of the volatile Midle East.

We are building the largest embassy in the world in Baghdad. Eyes and ears in this dark corner of the world. If the Iraq's can establish a free and democratic state with our help it will be the most notable achievement of recent history. Difficult..yes, costly...yes, in our interest...yes, impossible...no.

[Senator Goldwater]

If you read Bodansky's book about bin Laden, the connections to Turabi and Iraqi intelligence, not to mention Iranian intelligence, is brazenly in evidence.

All of the anti-American regimes were in bed with the Islamist International, which is why what is happening today in Iraq would've happened wherever we chose to engage the enemy.

[Solamente]

Gadzooks! RepCath again!

The only thing I do not understand is why GWB and his Administration did not elucidate the BIG PICTURE to the world.

The strategy, IMHO, comes straight out of the mindset of the Age of Enlightenment.

I challenge anyone on this forum to list people today with minds as fine as our Founding Fathers.

[Diva]

read later

[FreeReign]

By then it had identified the jihadist campaign as "a Saudi problem". Most of the September 11 suicide attackers had been Saudis. Bin Laden was a Saudi. Saudi money trails were everywhere. An invasion of Saudi Arabia presented the tactical problem of waging war against a country of vast area and the strategic one of disrupting the world's oil supplies.

What? Invade Saudi Arabia? Our military was already in Saudi Arabia and we used it much to our advantage as a base to invade Iraq.

The real remedy for Saudi Arabia was three fold. One, give Prince Abdullah a list of wanted Ql Qaeda that they must capture or kill. Two, give Abdullah a list of Saudi charities that fund global terrorism that must be stopped. Three, given a willingness by Abdullah to accomplish both one and two, support Abdullah as the ruling Prince because Saudi Arabia contains too many devout brainwashed Muslims to be a democratic country.

The plan seems to be working.

[FreeReign]

Breaking up the Oil for Food criminal conspiracy was enough alone to make this operation successful.

Yes, infant mortality rates will drop as a result.

[JimRed]

How about flypaper, or mosquito magnet, or roach motel? Terrorists from all over check in to Iraq, but they don't check out!

[ex-snook]

"The road to Israel/Palestine peace is through Baghdad." Are we there yet?

[ThePythonicCow]

Another post, yesterday, presented the review by Frank Devine, in the The Australian, of this book, America's Secret War by George Friedman. See the post: WMDs Camouflage Real Reasons Behind Iraq Invasion.