In the debate, Obama's fictional Iraq is based on three claims 1) "AQ was not in Iraq in with (no ties to Saddam) in 2001 or 2002
2) Iraq and Afghanistan are two separate wars, and 3) We win when we kill OBL and defeat AQ... Obama concludes we dropped the ball in Afghanistan by going into Iraq NEEDLESSLY... Obama concludes AQ is as strong today as in 9/11... Obama concludes Iraq served as a recruiting goldmine for AQ... The problem is 4 are completely false, one is true short-term but false medium to long term, and the sixth is a "semantical" truth... 1) OBL has ties to Saddam pre 9/11... Saddam, like many ME governments, maintained ties to many stateless terrorist groups... It is truth Saddam did some ties to AQ... The basic problem however was Saddam's was a key link in the nexus of Stateless terrorist groups, rouge/failed states, and WMD (as defined by the UNSC that includes stockpile, manufacturing, delivery systems, and research)... So Obama is "semantically" truthful, but fundamentally in error... 2) Iraq and Afghanistan are merely different battlefields in the same war... Other battlefields include Lebanon, Somalia, Kashmir, Chechnya, Europe, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines and others... This is a global war against Radical Islam (both Shia and Sunni versions)... The major defeat of AQ in Iraq was their transformed image from "Freedom Fighter" to "Thugs interested in death" among the world's Moslems... This does not include the wasting of their manpower, money, and donors in this major defeat... 3) The war with Radical Islam will not end with OBL death, like the collapse of Germany on Hitler's death... Why??? Radical Islam is Ideology driven and can and will replace leaders as the die and jailed... 4) By going into Iraq, we forced AQ and OBL to make Iraq the central battleground... AQ lost the Iraqi public (Sunni) and went down to defeat... AQ had to retreat back to the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan... Afghanistan/Pakistan is becoming the central battlefield only AFTER this defeat... The Surge made the defeat possible... 5) AQ is fundamentally weaker today... Why??? !st much of the Moslem world opposing them unlike in 2001... They are now causing anger in the lowland Pakistani hosts who are 75-90% of the population... After Pakistan, they have no more core sanctionaries to retreat to... But Radical Islam still will remain in other groups and Sects, which is to say killing OBL is not the signal of final victory... 6) During 2003-mid 2006 our battlefield tactics did not fit the Iraq reality... It was during this period that AQ recruitment went up... With the Surge and its changed tactics adapted to Iraq, AQ was defeated there -- not only on the physical battlefield but on the ideological battlefield... AQ's recruitment went down and their prior assets (angry young Moslem willing to die) were depleted... In short Obama has a fundmentally flawed and dangerous sets of believes concerning Iraq, Afghanistan... He is unable to comprehend his ignorance in dealing with Radical Islam... --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
