That’s it in a nutshell.
It amazes me how quickly folks forgot who Hussein was and what he was up to.
One of the first things to go down the memory hole was Zawahiri and his band of thugs, “Egyptian Islamic Jihad”, were on Saddam’s payroll. They are who recruited Bin Ladin, and they are who formed his inner circle. Bin Ladin’s connection to Saddam has been hidden in plain sight all along.
And we have discussed endlessly here the connections from both the first World Trade Center attack and the second one that led back to Saddam.
Its a murky world out there, Bin Ladin has received help from the Saudi royals, and Iran, and Saddam. Most people are prepared to focus on one leg while ignoring the other two. Saddam certainly knew about 911 before it happened and hinted strongly that he ordered it. No “war on terror” was going to be successful that left him in power.
And no war on terror was going to be successful that armed the very same Al Qaeda and handed them the keys to the middle east. That was Obama’s policy. Not Bush’s.
What was Hussein”up to”, other than brutally keeping his boot on the jihadists? We took him out, and chaos ensued
It amazes me how quickly folks forgot who Hussein was and what he was up to.
It would have been nice if Saddam were replaced by a peaceful, democratic Iraq aligned with American. But despite our best efforts, treasure and lives, that is not the case. And it probably never would have been. A Saddam controlled Iraq would have still been a bulkhead against Iran.
Afghanistan is likewise turning to crap. Again, despite all our efforts, I’ll bet the Government falls within one year after we leave. Would not be surprised if Russia went back in there to pick up the pieces.