Failed logic has led to unnecessary carnage in Iraq

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http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070624/FEATURES15/706240310/1030/FEATURES15

By WALT AMSES

Anyone needing clarification on the absurdity of including the invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq in the global "war on terror" should consider this: Our futile effort to "defeat the enemy" has lasted longer than it took to overcome both Nazi Germany and Japan in World War II while none of the terror plots uncovered since 9/11, including the recent targeting of Kennedy Airport and portions of New York City originated in Iraq.

The Bush administration's manipulation of national fear precluded anyone – including most of the press corps – from asking one simple question: "Why in God's name would we invade a country because 19 guys committed what was essentially a crime?" They were not affiliated with any country – although most were from Saudi Arabia. And no country or government was involved in either the planning or implementation of the attacks. By now it is common knowledge that Bush/Cheney wanted Iraq and used the tragedy of 9/11 to get it, ignoring numerous clear and ominous warnings about the global aftermath.

In the face of all the fluctuating rationale for the invasion being proved false countless times, we continue to endure the president and his minions taking every opportunity to spew the same lies and perpetuate the same myths that led America and the rest of the world into this horror more than four years ago. Addressing graduates of the Coast Guard Academy in May, the president used two-year-old, conveniently declassified information to assert Osama Bin Laden had targeted Iraq as the site for an al-Qaida "sanctuary."

The president also enumerated the various plots designed to "repeat the destruction of 9/11" while failing utterly to make even a remote connection to our invasion other than bin Laden's supposed quest in 2005 to "set up a unit" inside Iraq. 2005? Two years AFTER we invaded? Whose fault is that?