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If you think that Iraq was a diversion (necessary or not) then you don't understand or haven't studied the administration's strategy. Our invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with 9.11, or WMD, or GW1, or GHWB.
That's news to me. There was no talk of invading Iraq until after the Trade Towers were taken out.
Wrong. Iraq was listed as a state sponsor of terrorism by the State Department for more than a decade prior to 9/11. The Bush Doctrine was formulated after 9/11. It stated that we would go after the terrorists and the states that supported them.
It would have been foolish to allow Saddam to stay in power and provide sanctuary and resources in support of AQ, including WMD. Prior to 9/11, as the 9/11 Commission documented, there were contacts between Iraq's intelligence service and AQ. There were also 17 UN resolutions against Iraq and its failure to comply with the truce agreement ending the first Gulf War.
It is also worth noting that the US and the UK had been bombing Iraq daily for almost ten years to enforce the Northern and Southern no-fly zones. Leaving Saddam around while fighting the War on Terrorism was not an acceptable option.
"Our invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with 9.11, or WMD, or GW1, or GHWB."
uhh, no?