By Brigitte L. Nacos
Although there is no evidence for any connection between
Saddam Hussein/Iraq on the one hand and al-Qaeda/ 9/11 on the other, direct and indirect statements
to the contrary have been made for years by President Bush, Vice-President
Cheney, and others to first justify the invasion and then the occupation and
troop surge. Now, presidential candidate Senator John McCain and Independent Senator
Joseph Lieberman make this same false argument in an op-ed article in the Wall
Street Journal titled “Listening to Petraeus: The president had the courage
to change course on Iraq. Does Congress?”
McCain and Lieberman write, “Whatever the shortcomings
of our friends in Iraq, they
are no excuse for us to retreat from our enemies like al Qaeda and Iran, who pose
a mortal threat to our vital national interests. We must understand that today in Iraq we are fighting and defeating
the same terrorist network that attacked on 9/11 [emphasis added]. As al Qaeda in Iraq continues to be hunted down and rooted out,
and the Iraqi Army continues to improve, the U.S. footprint will no doubt
adjust. But these adjustments should be left to the discretion of Gen.
Petraeus, not forced on our troops by politicians in
Washington with a 6,000-mile congressional
screwdriver, and, perhaps, an eye on the 2008 election.
So, the Iraq War is now about fighting al Qaeda and Iran! Al-Qaeda Central, whose leaders are certainly not in Iraq but most likely hiding in the mountains of Pakistan, will not be defeated if the al-Qaeda in Iraq brand is.
The idea that General Petraeus alone
should make decisions over war and peace, not civilian leaders in
Washington is shocking--at least not those in Congress. After the
president and his administration “finally had the courage to change course in Iraq earlier this year,” as they write, they want the Congress to fall in line.
Forget about the U.S. Constitution.
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