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Military campaign in Iraq has made us less safe from terrorism

The Iraq campaign isn't the war we were told it would be.

Date published: 12/5/2003

"IT WAS A GUTSY call, a 'Hail Mary' pass," the colonel told the cable-news talking head.

The colonel, speaking of President Bush's surprise visit to Baghdad, meant it as praise. But as every football fan knows, you heave a Hail Mary when time's running out.

While it might not be accurate to dub Bush's Baghdad trip "Operation Desperation," the spectacle did highlight the stunning difference between the way things are in Iraq and the way the war promoters promised us things would be.

Think about it: Instead of being showered with flowers and cheers by grateful Iraqis, the Great Liberator had to sneak into the country under the cover of darkness--kind of the reverse of a despised dictator who surreptitiously bolts his country to avoid summary justice.

Now, keep your knee-jerk reactions in check, ye fire-breathers of the right; I don't mean to suggest that Bush is the equivalent of any of the numerous thugs our government has supported over the years. The point is that, now that we're a few days removed from the media's breathless coverage of Bush's Thanksgiving surprise, we can see even more clearly what a turkey this idea of invading Iraq really was.

The White House wants us to forget this sad reality by trying to persuade us that the Iraq attack was an absolutely necessary battle in the global war against terrorism.

"You are defeating the terrorists here in Iraq so we don't have to face them in our own country," Bush told the troops he met in Baghdad.

But if you want to understand how silly this argument is, imagine Bush making it prior to the invasion, say at that seemingly scripted press conference a few days before the start of combat.

Reporter: "Hack Scribner of The Daily Regurgitator, sir. Mr. President, could you tell the American people how the invasion of Iraq relates to the war on terror?"

President: "I appreciate you asking that question, Hack. Of course I can. What we're going to do is move more than 100,000 of our troops into Iraq and use them as bait to draw the evildoers out of their lairs. Then we'll pound the living daylights out of 'em. That way we won't have to fight 'em here outside the gates of the White House."

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Date published: 12/5/2003