Joe Nation wrote:The invasion of Iraq was, and is, a fear reaction. Blindsided by 9/11, this administration sought to strike out at any perceived threat and, like any drunk in a darkened bar room, started swinging. Ignoring their own early 2001 pronouncements that Saddam had been marginalized, they suddenly found him to be a fully armed and dangerous threat. Ignoring the protests of their friends that Iraq was not part of the problem, think -- Sammy, it was Al Queda not Saddam, they shrugged, picked up a pool cue and pounded Iraq's head with it.
The more I think about it the more the bar fight-fear strike fits. Guy gets wacked in the head but doesn't know by who, starts swinging, friends try to stop him but he's pissed now and scared it's going to happen again so he just keeps going. Meanwhile the guy who did smack him is sipping a beer at the bar. Pissed off scared guy's friends get pissed at him for being such a dork and there's a big mess, but nobody's happy...
Joe( I think this happened at the TomCat Bar) Nation
I would agree with you, joe, except that the plans to attack Iraq was already in the making before 9/11. 9/11 just interrupted them for a brief while.
plain truth is...we elected (well not me) a president who was going to take us to war...it was predetermined...and then reelected him...good job guys. Great judgement in the booth there.
He invaded Iraq for the reason he said he invaded Iraq, because the totality of the history of Hussein's activities posed an unacceptable risk that he might still have WMD or WMD programs. Whether you believe that the president was right or not in this assessment, this is the primary reason why he invaded, as he has said over and over. Since many Americans believed the same thing, there is nothing implausible about the idea that Bush did too.