“The capture of Saddam is a good thing which I hope very much will keep our soldiers in Iraq and around the world safer. But the capture of Saddam has not made America safer.” -Howard Dean, Dec 15 2003
“Differences over Iraq have split us from allies who rallied to our side after 9/11, and Iraq has drained resources from other needs, most notably in Afghanistan, where warlords still rule most of the country. Iraq could yet settle into some form of Islamic democracy. And terrorists there might become as scarce as before the war began. But the argument that we are safer from terrorism now because we went to war in Iraq is dubious at best.”
–USA Today, July 15, 2004
“I really do think George W. Bush is making a mistake by declaring we’re safer today. Sure, it’s true we haven’t been attacked once inside the United States since 9/11 — something everyone considered a sure thing for at least the first year after that fateful day. It may be an old argument but having the U.S. Army and Marines fight terrorists in Fallujah is still preferable to having civilian passengers in trains, planes, and automobiles fight them in Cleveland. Nevertheless, the world is a mess, and only a fool would think it wouldn’t be after we created more havoc in the Middle East than that region has seen for a generation.” – Jonah Goldberg, National Review, July 14 2004
If W is claiming that Iraq makes us safer now, then that is because he either believes what his handlers tell him, or he believes that we will believe his lies if he repeats them enough times with a straight face. Why we should waste our time wondering why W bullshits us? He wants to get re-elected, is all, and those who trust him will believe him, unless they tend to do stuff like read newspapers.
Anyway, the more interesting question is if this invasion will make us more secure in the long term. One less brutal dictator, and the chance of an Islamic Democracy … this crazy, half-assed effort may some day be regarded as a success, and George will look more prudent in retrospect than he actually is.
Your web page would be a little easier on the eyes if you employed a margin greater than zero. Half an em would do …
/d