Bickering Politicians—Beating a Dead Horse and Accomplishing Nothing!

While I believe that Saddam Hussein needed to be removed as the leader of Iraq, and that he should be tried for genocide—as he is now—I do not think that going into Iraq after Afghanistan was the next logical move in the war against terrorism.

However, the fact remains that we did and nothing can change that. I also believe that if we were to give up and pull out of Iraq prematurely, the mistake of going in when we did would be “Plutoed” by such a mistake as that.

Yesterday, the Bush administration released portions of a classified intelligence estimate that says the global jihadist movement is growing and being fueled by the war in Iraq even as it becomes more decentralized, making it harder to identify potential terrorists and prevent attacks.

This from the Washington Post:

The war in Iraq has become a "cause celebre" for jihadists, breeding resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim world and drawing new adherents to the movement, the assessment says. The growth in the number of potential terrorists is also being fed by corruption, slow-moving political reform in many Muslim countries and "pervasive" anti-American sentiment, according to the report.”

The jihadist movement is potentially limited by its ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam and could be slowed by democratic reforms in the Muslim world, said the document, which reflects the collective judgment of the nation's 16 intelligence agencies. In addition, it asserted that if jihadists are perceived to be defeated in Iraq, "fewer fighters would be inspired to carry on the fight."

If we pull out of Iraq prematurely—as Israel did in Lebanon and Hezbollah claimed victory and have recently said that there is no way they will give up their weapons—then we will be inflating the monster of terrorism to an unmanageable size.

Reports based leaks of the classified report said the report blames the war in Iraq for worsening the global terrorist threat. I don’t really think that the mistake of the Iraq war can be blamed for the worsening “global terrorist threat.” With the growing number of schools in Pakistan and throughout the Middle East, from the mid-twentieth century through today, that teaches a form of extremist Islam to children from the start has played “the” major role in the spread and increase of terrorism that we are seeing.

I am not a Republican and am not saying that they haven’t made some dire mistakes; they have. However, I think it is time to stop beating the Iraq war issue into the ground simply for political reasons and work on solutions to the true causes of international terrorism and how to bring it to an end.

I am also not a Democrat and would be ashamed to admit it if I were. In two years since President Bush was reelected Democrats still have not figured out why they can’t win. I think it’s pretty clear; instead of offering some answers to domestic and foreign issues which plague America and running on a clear platform, they continue to try and bolster their party by drawing attention to Republicans shortcomings; I, for one, have grown very weary of this tactic and the fact that Democrats and Republicans alike are wasting American taxpayers money by bickering over the same old issues since 9/11 2001 and not doing anything to improve anything for the people who elect them and pay their exorbitant, and underserved, salaries.

Democrats have seized on the document to bolster their contention that the war in Iraq has been a debacle that has hindered broader anti-terrorism efforts, even as the administration calls Iraq the central front in a global struggle.”

We need solutions to the problem of terrorism not continued debate over weather going into Iraq was right or wrong. We also need our elected representatives to stop jockeying for points by pointing fingers and to come up with solutions to problems that are bringing America down.

I encourage you not to vote party in November, but to help change the status quo by voting independent. Make your vote count for something positive and vote for change where you find it!

Make them earn your vote!

Quotes from:

Part of Iraq Intelligence Report Is Released

Political' Leaks of Paper Led to Decision, Bush Says

By Michael A. Fletcher

Washington Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, September 27, 2006; Page A01