Has the Iraq War distracted the US from fighting terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan?

[jefferson_dem]

Poll question: Has the Iraq War distracted the US from fighting terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan?

Has the Iraq War distracted the US from fighting terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan?

[TwilightGardener]

1. I say yes. DU Resident Poll-Troll says no.

[bunnies]

2. Absolutely.

We were making progress in Afganistan, until Iraq that is. Now its back to or worse than what it was before.

[Pirate Smile]

3. This is an Inconvenient Question for some people.

[killbotfactory]

4. Yes, and we knew it would be before going in.

And we've been saying so ever since! This shouldn't be controversial to anybody.

I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.

I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.

So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the president today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.

Barrack Obama,

26 October 2002

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Barack_Obama's_Iraq_Speech

[Dhalgren]

5. I do not support Obama, but that is a terrific quotation from him.

If you are an Obama supporter, you should want that quotation spread far and wide...

[bunnies]

12. Thats exactly what we should have done.

imho. I agreed with him then and I still agree with him now.

[madrchsod]

6. of course.....

remember the right wing getting upset when clinton launched a cruise missile and it just missed bin boy ? if bin boy would have died things would be much different today

[Renew Deal]

7. The answers should be "Duh" and "I'm a moran"

The answer to this one is obvious.

[Adelante]

8. God, yes

When did this even become debatable?

[Vincardog]

9. WTF are we going to war with a tactic? Can you have a war on cluster bombing?

[jefferson_dem]

10. Good point. Perhaps "terrorists" would have been the better word.

:hi:

[Vincardog]

13. The issue is not the word it is the premise. The bushitlers of the world only get away with

their crimes when they have an enemy to justify their theft of our treasure and liberty.
Thus they invented the "War on TERRA". It is the eternal war the PNAC wanted to keep us eternally subjugated to the war machine.

[annie1]

11. Then maybe we should blame those who are continuing a war that now has no premise...

and hasn't for years. they should have left after they found no wmd. Maybe we should blame those who are continuing the current strategy. Biden, Edwards, Clinton all voted yay to authorize force, and did not vote for this drawn out 5 year debacle. Edwards apologized, that's great, doesn't change anything. Barack had the good judgement to say it was a mistake to vote yay. this is true. Has he, could he or others do something to get the white house to pay more attention where he and others thinks they should? Clearly not. Is Hillary Clinton responsible for what is going on in Pakistan today? No. Bhutto's assissination? No. Neither is edwards, neither is biden. Axelrod was innappropriate imo.