eloisel said:
I think you will find every administration has contingency plans for military action regarding several countries. A military of our size doesn't get coordinated and moved overnight. Logistics isn't the only factor. Legal aspects, UN chit chats, and alliances have to be considered. That is to our detriment as the insurgents apparently just have to show up and they magically have weapons, food, other support, and no holding to the UN or any other country. They don't have to seek permission to fly over any country's air space, use their sea ports, or land bases either.
Most "presidents" don't have a plan of attack drawn up before their party even nominates them.
eloisel said:
Actually, the justification for invading Iraq was not 9/11 but Saddam's history of refusal to comply with the weapons inspections imposed because of Saddam's invasion of Kuwait. You really ought to read the weapons inspections reports. Time and again, an investigator reported that he inspected a site, questioned what happened to the inventory of weapons that Saddam reported were at that location, and was told by the persons at the site that the weapons were destroyed earlier. Investigator just checked it off his sheet with the notation. Nice - taking those people at their word and not demanding any proof whatsoever. Those people were the same ones that threw babies out of hospital incubators when they invaded Kuwait.
Ok, I'm sorry for this, but you're going to have to pull your head out from under that rock. It's been documented that Bush both pointed a finger at Iraq as collaborators in the 9/11 plot AND claimed that Iraq was in the midst of supplying Al Qaeda with weapons of mass destruction.
Then, a few years later he publicly admitted there were no ties and that his administration had never linked the two.
Throughout 2002, the U.S. administration made it clear that removing Saddam Hussein from power was a major goal, although it offered to accept major changes in Iraqi military and foreign policy in lieu of this. Specifically, the stated justification for the invasion included Iraqi production and use of weapons of mass destruction, alleged links with terrorist organizations, and human rights violations in Iraq under the Saddam Hussein government.
Bush and his cabinet repeatedly linked the Hussein government to the September 11th attacks, despite the fact that there was no convincing evidence of Hussein's involvement.
Sept. 26, 2002
(AP) President Bush's national security adviser said al Qaeda operatives have found refuge in Baghdad, and
accused Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime of helping Osama bin Laden's followers develop chemical weapons.
Condoleezza Rice's statements, aired Wednesday in a broadcast interview, are the strongest yet alleging contacts between al Qaeda and the Iraqi government. Previously, evidence of the two working together was tenuous, or came from unreliable sources.
March 13, 2003
Bush Now Says What He Wouldn’t Say Before War: Iraq Had ‘Nothing’ To Do With 9/11.
President Bush was in the midst of explaining how the attacks of 9/11 inspired his “freedom agenda” and the attacks on Iraq until a reporter, Ken Herman of Cox News, interrupted to ask what Iraq had to do with 9/11.
“Nothing,” Bush defiantly answered.
To justify the war, Bush informed Congress on March 19, 2003 that acting against Iraq was consistent with “continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.”
As has been repeatedly documented, Vice President Cheney cited “evidence” cooked up by Douglas Feith and others to claim it was “pretty well confirmed” that Iraq had contacts with 9/11 hijackers.
More generally, in the lead-up to the war in Iraq, the administration encouraged the false impression that Saddam had a role in 9/11. Bush never stated then, as he does now, that Iraq had “nothing” to do with 9/11. Only after the Iraq war began did Bush candidly acknowledge that Iraq was not operationally linked to 9/11.
Full transcript:
BUSH: The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizens before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East.
QUESTION: What did Iraq have to do with it?
BUSH: What did Iraq have to do with what?
QUESTION: The attack on the World Trade Center.
BUSH: Nothing. Except it’s part of — and nobody has suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq was a — Iraq — the lesson of September 11th is take threats before they fully materialize, Nobody's ever suggested that the attacks of September the 11th were ordered by Iraq.
eloisel said:
The search for Osama bin laden has not ceased. There is still a faction of our military and allies looking for him but the job is mostly delegated to Pakistani tribes. If you look at where Osama is most likely holed up - in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan - you will see that finding him is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. Osama needs dialysis so you can bet there are operatives searching for him where he may get that treatment. Still, even when Osama is dead or captured, it won't be the end of al-Qaeda. If it were, then allocating all our resources to his capture would be the absolute right thing to do.
I think you meant to say "There is still a
fraction of or military looking for him."
Let's farm out the hunt for the most dangerous criminal on the planet to a bunch of Pakistani tribes men. Not only are they Muslim, but the closer you get to the Paki border with Afghanistan, the more blurred the whole allegiance issue becomes. And it's not like we can put a whole lot of trust in Pakistan to begin with. They waiver more than John Kerry at a fundraiser.
Nice medical update by the way. Have you examined him recently?
Of course, no one can prove it either way. Hell, this week they're claiming he's dead but no seems to be able to prove it.
Personally, I think the only ailment the guy has is terminal hemorrhoids from sitting on the floor of a cave and laughing at the moron in the White House for the last 5 years.
