What Did We Win?

Why would Baghdad have chosen to deprive itself of its most formidable weapons on the eve of warVictory in Terror War?Abbas reconstituted his terror cell in Baghdad, at a time when Iraq was receiving military and economic aid from Washington.

Although Abbas is typically described as a fugitive, his whereabouts have not been a mystery. The New York Times conducted an interview with him late last year, in which the accused murderer of a U.S. citizen condemned the September 11th attacks. And while the Bush administration is eager to cite the capture of Abbas as validation of its war in Iraq, it had previously shown little interest in snaring him. Newsday points out that "U.S. Justice Department officials said as recently as last year that they had no grounds to seek his extradition."

On April 16th, the Bush administration lowered the national terrorism "threat level" from Orange (high) to Yellow (elevated). The threat level had been raised on March 17th to coincide with President Bush's pre-war 48-hour ultimatum to Saddam. Down-shifting the alert level signaled that our military conquest of Baghdad had reduced the terrorist danger to Americans.

Or had it?

On April 21st, the State Department issued a warning to Americans overseas that the conclusion of the war in Iraq "may increase the potential threat to U.S. citizens and interest abroad including by terrorist groups.... U.S. citizens are encouraged to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness."

Given that the military conquest of Iraq increased the terrorist danger to Americans, how can it be viewed as a victory in the "war on terrorism"?

Hail Liberation!The "New Iraq"Why?by William Norman Grigg
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