Is it OK for me to be peeved, to be churning in my chair, to be seething near the sofa? Yes, yes, I know I am supposed to be continuing my analysis of poverty and wealth. But sometimes righteous anger is borne of responsibility. And I have a responsibility to depart from my poverty/wealth series to state the truth, even when it confounds Don Imus or Senator Dodd (CT) or Donald Sutherland. Plus, it is my moral duty to state the obvious, irrespective of the naysayers with mud in their ears. So hear this: Iraq caused 9/11.
Too bold for you? Too radical? Do you think I'm either insane or too partisan? Well, think again. I shall prove my point. (Again.)
Let us all agree that Osama bin Laden was the mastermind of 9/11. Let us further stipulate that Mr. bin Laden never once consulted or collaborated with Mr. Hussein or ANY Iraqi. Fine. It is so stipulated.
What did Osama bin Laden tell the WORLD when he declared his fatwa in 1998 against America? Well, let's review. Here is what he said:
"First, for over seven years the United States has been occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of places, the Arabian Peninsula, plundering its riches, dictating to its rulers, humiliating its people, terrorizing its neighbors, and turning its bases in the Peninsula into a spearhead through which to fight the neighboring Muslim peoples.
"If some people have formerly debated the fact of the occupation, all the people of the Peninsula have now acknowledged it.
"The best proof of this is the Americans' continuing aggression against the Iraqi people using the Peninsula as a staging post, even though all its rulers are against their territories being used to that end, still they are helpless. Second, despite the great devastation inflicted on the Iraqi people by the crusader-Zionist alliance, and despite the huge number of those killed, in excess of 1 million... despite all this, the Americans are once against trying to repeat the horrific massacres, as though they are not content with the protracted blockade imposed after the ferocious war or the fragmentation and devastation. ..."
Does this need explaining? Probably not. Unfortunately, duty calls.
It is undeniable that Iraq is the CAUSAL link in the 9/11 attacks. In other words, it is indisputable, irrefutable, absolute. If I am wrong, then we must reconsider – perhaps even revise – not only Mr. bin Laden's fatwa, but his role in 9/11. With that said, the ONLY thing we should be debating is whether INVADING Iraq is a right or wrong response to both Mr. Hussein's recalcitrance and Mr. bin Laden's vendetta. But if we insist that Iraq is a 'distraction' or a 'tangent' or 'unrelated' or merely 'for oil', then we do so out of ignorance, a lust for power, or out of self-deception.
Moreover, this bold claim also needs to be made: If Iraq had not invaded Kuwait, we would not be having any discussion about the War on Terror or 9/11 or Osama bin Laden. The American/Iraqi conflict began when Hussein chose to annex a small country along the southeast border of Iraq. In short, Iraq is to blame for America's military response, the very response that inspired Mr. bin Laden's virulent fatwa. (OK. I've oversimplified. The causal chain goes back all the way to the beginning of time. Everything prior to the Kuwaiti invasion is to blame for Hussein's emergence. But is that sort of timeline helpful? Hardly.)
Here is a curiosity that leaves me puzzled. Most of the critics of the war in Iraq constantly refer to it as a distraction. They want us to go after the real culprits of 9/11, Mr. bin Laden and his Al Qaida minions. Amazingly, in truly puzzling fashion, these people do not know, or choose not to know, that Mr. bin Laden himself put Iraq in the center of the War on Terror. How can this be?
Lastly, I know that my critics will perhaps accept my observations only to jump to ludicrous heights. They shall tell me that America created Hussein; that the CIA propped him up when he was needed during the Iraqi hostage crisis under the Carter Administration. And so forth. But I will stand intransigent. For I will insist that if we argue that way, we might as well go through every step of human history to fix blame on someone, anyone, for Hussein's evil spirit. And I will also point out that those who may consider my own position an over-simplification are clearly guilty of the same dastardly deed.
Peace to you.
Contratimes
©Bill Gnade 2005/Contratimes - All Rights Reserved.
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