Wednesday, June 13, 2007
"Someone Has to Say It" Interlude Post: Everything Old is New Again
by Ken Houghton
It's not that it's incorrect; it's just incomplete. Watch the way the snake eats itself, Ragnarok-like:
Kevin states the conclusion, leaving the rest as an exercise to the reader. Let's tell the whole story.
It's not Kevin Drum's fault. (Or Dr. Black's, for linking to him.) But I'm getting tired of seeing half of the story told, so let me lay out what's wrong with simply stating this:
There is, at this point, simply nothing more we can do in Iraq. The only sensible course of action is to leave. Completely.
It's not that it's incorrect; it's just incomplete. Watch the way the snake eats itself, Ragnarok-like:
- The United States established permanent bases in Saudi Arabia
- Several prominent Saudis took offence at that, among them members of the Bin Laden family
- After "learning the ropes" with some (arguably limited) U.S. support in Afghanistan, Osama Bin Laden worked to develop a network of operatives loyal to him, with one stated goal being to get the United States to remove its bases from Saudi Arabia.
- Many of Mr. Bin Laden's followers were volunteers from Saudi Arabia; one may reasonably assume that his Vision Statement ("U.S. out of Saudi Arabia") was contributory to his ability to draw Saudi volunteers.
- Fifteen (15) of those volunteers were on hijacked planes on 11 September 2001. None of those fifteen was an innocent bystander.
- In the two years after 11 September 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan, withdrew its military personnel from Saudi Arabia, and invaded Iraq.
- In the aftermath of the end of "major combat activities" on 1 May 2003, the United States is establishing permanent bases in Iraq.
Kevin states the conclusion, leaving the rest as an exercise to the reader. Let's tell the whole story.
Labels: history repeated, Iraq, sovereignty, terrorism
