You'd think I'd know better...

...than to try to talk politics.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm just not a smart person when it comes to world politics. But I do watch and read a variety of news sources. I know some of them are biased, so I try to mix it up...I figure that by doing that, I can glean some semblance of what the real story is.

And I wondered, from the get-go, just exactly why we were going after Sadaam Hussein after 9/11, when most of the news sources clearly stated that Bin Laden was the one who masterminded it. I know that Hussein was a cruel, egomaniacal dictator who butchered thousands of innocent people. But why were we saying that we were going to Iraq to beat his ass? There are several cruel, egomaniacal dictators that deserve to have their asses kicked. Why him, in particular? Why now?

I know that there are those that say we're just trying to protect the world's oil reserves...that it's really all about the oil. I don't buy that, either.

I gathered that Hussein must've contributed in some way, if only financially...to the terrorists. At least that's what all the newsies were parroting, via "White House sources". But I still couldn't understand that. I mean, I figured that surely he wasn't the only financial backer. I trusted that our government would go after the right guy, even though I obvously really don't know my ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to politics.

In the years after 9/11, I continued to wonder why we were in Iraq. Ok, we might be helping the Iraqi's develop a democratic society. That's nice. I don't think it'll ever happen..I don't think there'll ever be any kind of lasting peace anywhere in the Mid-East, but bless our soldiers for trying.
I'd decided that surely our government knew what they were doing, even though it seemed to me like Bush had such a hard-on for Hussein simply because he couldn't find Bin Laden.

It's like when a guy's mad at his boss, but comes home and kicks his dog instead.

Over these five years, I've become more and more disillusioned with our fearless leader...with our government, in general. And I still continued to wonder just exactly why we were in Iraq.

As it turns out, there IS no connection between Iraq/Hussein and 9/11.

WASHINGTON - The commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks reported Wednesday that Osama bin Laden met with a top Iraqi official in 1994 but found “no credible evidence” of a link between Iraq and al-Qaida in attacks against the United States.

The whole story is

here

.

In making the case for war in Iraq, Bush administration officials frequently cited what they said were Saddam's decade-long contacts with al-Qaida operatives. They stopped short of claiming that Iraq was directly involved in the Sept. 11 attacks, but critics say Bush officials left that impression with the American public.

...Bush officials left that impression with the American public.

Exactly. Bush and his officials have given that impression. An impression that most Americans bought. Including me, at first. We're not in Iraq fighting terrorists. We might be fighting for democracy there...but we're not fighting the terrorists who are responsible for 9/11, which is what we ought to be doing.

Maybe I'm not quite as stupid as I thought I was.

What scares me...what really scares me...is the fact that, while we've been so busy chasing our tails in Iraq...losing hundreds of our brave soldiers in a fight that we can never really win, Bin Laden is still out there. He and all those like him...all his fundamentalist followers...still hate us...still think that everyone who does not believe like they do...should be dead. Gone from this earth. Obliterated. Period. End of discussion.

And despite all the "Homeland Security" bullshit, I truly don't think we're prepared for another attack like 9/11. I don't think we're even close to being prepared.

We'll never be truly prepared until we decide to fight like they do. Until we start thinking like the terrorists. Until we decide we're no longer fearful of stepping on toes. Until we decide to can all the politically correct bullshit and call a spade a spade. Until we decide to hit them before they hit us. Because they will. They surely will hit us again.

Gawd help us all...I hope it doesn't take another 9/11 for us to get that message.