I See Dumb People
Recently, Americans were polled to gauge their pulse on the Iraq war. Two questions revealed how completely ignorant the propaganda machine has made people south of the 49th. When asked if they believe Saddam Hussein had strong links with Al Qaeda, 64% said yes -- 30 % said no. Further, 50% still believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction before the US invaded, while 45% don't think they did.
Anyone with at least a simian level of intelligence will know that next to Israel, the Saddam Hussein's Iraq was probably the biggest enemy of the fundamentalist Islam supported by Al Qaeda. Hussein was evil, but he was motivated out of self-interest, and the fundamentalists threatened his authority. That's why he was friends with the US for such a long time -- and was so effectively used to wage a painful war with Iran. This ignorance continues to prove that Americans can't tell the difference between Arab groups. They're all Arabs, they're all terrorists.
To fully understand Iraq's WMD program, one should start by reading the CIA's Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the DCI on Iraq's WMD. It's a 1,000 page report that is pretty comprehensive -- but America is also sustaining a war based on the premise that Iraq possessed WMD. Americans are dying. Billions are being spent. The least the uneducated masses should do is read the introduction sections. That Hussein had WMD aspirations is undeniable. That he was playing a cat-and-mouse game with UN inspectors is also undeniable. However, what does any of that have to do with the American invasion? Absolutely nothing. Unless you believe that Hussein would try and use his developing WMD program against the US. That belief would be far from the truth -- the target would have been his neighbours. In effect, the American invasion of Iraq has neutralized the biggest threat Iran faced in the Middle East. Further, it has given Iran unprecedented influence in the region, especially in Iraq -- and has opened an Iraq that was once closed to Al Qaeda, to the influence of terrorism. All of this on the false premise that Iraq had WMD -- which if they had, was no one's business other than Iran and Israel.
This post was inspired by Rozius' Paul Krugman: Reign of Error post.
Related: for a history lesson on the region, see the Wikipedia post on the Ottoman Empire -- the 700 year empire that ruled much of the Middle East, North Africa, Anatolia and south-eastern Europe.
Anyone with at least a simian level of intelligence will know that next to Israel, the Saddam Hussein's Iraq was probably the biggest enemy of the fundamentalist Islam supported by Al Qaeda. Hussein was evil, but he was motivated out of self-interest, and the fundamentalists threatened his authority. That's why he was friends with the US for such a long time -- and was so effectively used to wage a painful war with Iran. This ignorance continues to prove that Americans can't tell the difference between Arab groups. They're all Arabs, they're all terrorists.
To fully understand Iraq's WMD program, one should start by reading the CIA's Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the DCI on Iraq's WMD. It's a 1,000 page report that is pretty comprehensive -- but America is also sustaining a war based on the premise that Iraq possessed WMD. Americans are dying. Billions are being spent. The least the uneducated masses should do is read the introduction sections. That Hussein had WMD aspirations is undeniable. That he was playing a cat-and-mouse game with UN inspectors is also undeniable. However, what does any of that have to do with the American invasion? Absolutely nothing. Unless you believe that Hussein would try and use his developing WMD program against the US. That belief would be far from the truth -- the target would have been his neighbours. In effect, the American invasion of Iraq has neutralized the biggest threat Iran faced in the Middle East. Further, it has given Iran unprecedented influence in the region, especially in Iraq -- and has opened an Iraq that was once closed to Al Qaeda, to the influence of terrorism. All of this on the false premise that Iraq had WMD -- which if they had, was no one's business other than Iran and Israel.
This post was inspired by Rozius' Paul Krugman: Reign of Error post.
Related: for a history lesson on the region, see the Wikipedia post on the Ottoman Empire -- the 700 year empire that ruled much of the Middle East, North Africa, Anatolia and south-eastern Europe.
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