Quote:
Originally Posted by Itse
Foreign Policy published this interesting piece.
Al-Qaeda Won |
I strongly disagree with this article.
1. Warhawks are nothing new. They didn't arise after 9/11. They've been a consistent part of the American political landscape since America came into being. The plans to invade Iraq were set in place a decade before, during Bush Sr.'s administration. Ousting Hussain had very little to do with the war on terrorism. It was part of a plan to put into place American friendly proxy governments in place of hostile administrations. The USA has consistently been involved in these wars since its inception. If anything, the appetite for these wars has decreased, as the USA would have a much harder time selling one of these wars now that it did 10 years ago. The USA will always have some damage control type involvement in places in like Syria and Libya, but they haven't gone full blown since Iraq. Have they even put new troops on the ground since Iraq? That's 15 years ago. As sad as it is, that may be a record for the USA.
2. Comparing the USA to a fascist country is complete and utter BS. You may not like the USA and it's global influence, but it's a country where freedom of speech and individuality is highly prized.
3. Al Queda was not just a few terrorists in caves. They had total control over Afghanistan and influence in several other major countries. Their influence was steadily increasing and spreading to places like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. This article discounts 9/11 itself and doesn't even mention the attacks that were thwarted post-911. Al Queda was also far from technologically incompetent. They'd mastered various forms of social media and electronic communications.
This all comes back to the same argument the left has been making for decades, that any decision by the right is based out of fear or greed and their decision is the only logical one. And the right makes the same arguments about the left. It's all just political posturing, as the truth typically lies somewhere in the middle.