Posted by
Saint Michael on Wednesday, August 15, 2007 5:55:58 PM
One of the primary arguments against the war in Iraq is that Iraq was not involved with 9/11. The same argument can be made for Afghanistan. Afghanistan as a country did not plan or execute the Sept 11 attacks.
Afghanistan was a state sponsor of terrorism. Afghanistan, as a state, gave safe haven to terrorists and allowed terrorists to train in camps. The government of Afghanistan (the Taliban) allowed the camps (Tarnak Farms, Derunta, Al Farooq, Khalden, etc) to exist and train terrorists within their sovereign territory. The Taliban, to my knowledge, did not provide funding for the families of suicide bombers. The Taliban did not have a WMD program. The government of Afghanistan (Taliban) was not involved with the planning or execution of the Sept 11 attacks.
Why did we invade Afghanistan?
The terrorists that took part in the Sept 11 attacks received training in the camps in Afghanistan. They did not receive training in Iraq. Afghanistan provided safe haven, so did Iraq. Afghanistan did not provide funding to the families of suicide bombers, Iraq did. Afghanistan did not have WMD, Iraq did (everyone, bipartisan thought so and both sides made the case).
Iraq was a state sponsor of terror. Iraq, as a state, gave safe haven to terrorists, provided financial retribution to the families of suicide bombers, had a WMD program (at one point) and allowed terrorists to train in camps. The government of Iraq allowed camps (Khurmal, Salman Pak, etc) to exist and to train terrorists within their sovereign territory. The government of Iraq, had a WMD program. This was confirmed by multiple sources throughout the 90’s and there is evidence to support this argument. If they did not, why did the IAEA have teams in Iraq? The unanswered issue is what happened to the WMD, not whether or not they had them. The government of Iraq (Saddam Hussein) was not involved with the planning or execution of the Sept 11 attacks.
Why did we invade Iraq?
Iraq is at the heart of the Middle East. If America wanted to make a fundamental, long term, ideological change in the Middle East, Afghanistan is not the place to do it. Iraq is.