Thursday, June 30, 2005
Iraq and September 11
What Republican Senator spoke the words? None. Senator John Kerry was responsible for the words. His criticism of President Bush was not connecting the war on Iraq to September 11, but in not acting against Iraq quickly enough. Mr. Daalder seems to believe that only legal proof of the complicity of Iraq in September 11 would justify President Bush and Senator Kerry's connecting Iraq with September 11. He is gravely wrong.September 11 changed a lot, but other things have changed: Globalization, technology, a smaller planet, the difficulties of radical fundamentalism, the crosscurrents of religion and politics. We are living in an age where the dangers are different and they require a different response, different thinking, and different approaches than we have applied in the past....
A brutal, oppressive dictator, guilty of personally murdering and condoning murder and torture, grotesque violence against women, execution of political opponents, a war criminal who used chemical weapons against another nation ... He has supported and harbored terrorist groups, particularly radical
Palestinian groups such as Abu Nidal, and he has given money to families of suicide murderers in Israel.The events of September 11 created new understanding of the terrorist threat and the degree to which every nation is vulnerable.
As Senator Kerry correctly stated, "The events of September 11 created new understanding of the terrorist threat and the degree to which every nation is vulnerable." Foreign Secretary Straw in his letter contained in the Downing Street Memo showed the impact of September 11 on President Bush's administration:
"If 11 September had not happened, it is doubtful that the US would now be considering military action against Iraq. ... Objectively, the threat from Iraq has not worsened as a result of 11 September. What has however changed is the tolerance of the international community (especially that of the US), the world having witnesse[d] on September 11 just what determined evil people can these days perpetuate."
The Report of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence showed many contacts between Iraq and Al Qaeda and various Palestinian terrorist groups. These contacts were acceptable prior to the events of September 11, but the British, Americans and other countries found them unacceptable after September 11.
Mr. Daalder and others may think that the countries should have continued to accept the risk of terrorist training camps and support for various terrorist groups by Iraq. They may argue that only if the US could prove in court of law under the rules of evidence that Saddam Hussein was complicit in September 11 could the US hold it as justifying an attack on Iraq. Oops. That seems to be Mr. Rove's point that Mr. Daalder seems to be supporting.
Simply because Mr. Daalder would accept such risk in a post-September 11 world does not mean that Senator Kerry, President Bush and PM Blair are wrong in concluding that the experience of September 11 justified military action against Iraq.
