For someone accusing others of being unable to frame and arguement, you take some liberties yourself. First, you assume that "liberals" would do nothing about terrorism. This is untrue. Second, you imply that the only alternative to attacking Iraq is to be soft on terrorism.
Let me remind you that the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 were not Iraqi. Nor did Iraq have anything to do with 9/11, despite the best lies of our Dear Leader. In fact, our efforts to track down and capture those responsible for the terrorism we faced on both 9/11 and the previous World Trade Center attack led to Afghanistan, and then back to Saudi Arabia, where the ideological basis for radical Islam begins. Most liberals and Democrats were unanimously in favor of the toppling of the Taliban, who harbored and supported Al Qaeda.
Further, the liberals and the Democrats were in power for the eight years of the continuation of Bush Sr.'s policy of No-Fly Zones, targeted strikes, inspections, and sanctions in Iraq. This policy was successful - disarming Iraq and keeping their neighbors safe from Iraqi threats. Iraq was not a participator in international terrorism, and certainly not against the USA.
The Bush administration effectively abandoned the effort to fight terrorism, and instead fought a war of choice and opportunity in Iraq, and in the process lied repeatedly about the basis for doing so. They ignored warnings that the information they used was faulty, and there is considerable evidence they cooked the information deliberately. We know, for example that Cheney continued to spout information he'd been informed was discredited. It seems every "mistake" they made was in their favor.
It also appears that they badly miscalculated virtually every administrative aspect of the war, from reconstruction costs, to the response of Iraqis, to having a basic exit strategy. Meanwhile, Halliburton gets tons of no-bid contracts, and suddenly billions of dollars are missing. Oh, and tens of thousands of people are dead.
And the net result is that we're in a Vietnam-style quagmire in Iraq, there is a popular insurgency, and even the CIA admits there are far more terrorists now then when we began. The whole effort has been counter-productive in fighting terrorism.
What I personally would suggest is to orchestrate pulling out of Iraq with a UN peacekeeping mission there. Getting the US out is the first step towards a solution in Iraq. WE are the cause of the trouble there. Second, I would redouble the efforts to secure and rebuild Afghanistan. The Taliban is back in control of many sections of that country, and they really are dangerous people. Further, I'd purge the intelligence agencies of the administration stooges and industry shills, and try to get real, unbiased information and intelligence to work with.
It's pretty clear that the present strategy has not worked. We did not plan for the insurgency. We did not plan for adequate reconstruction. We didn't expect to lose so many American soldiers. And we sure didn't plan to make ourselves hated in the middle east, or to alienate our traditional allies and make the US hated worldwide. It will take decades to undo the damage this administration has done to both the world and our own credibility.
Capslock
Let me remind you that the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 were not Iraqi. Nor did Iraq have anything to do with 9/11, despite the best lies of our Dear Leader. In fact, our efforts to track down and capture those responsible for the terrorism we faced on both 9/11 and the previous World Trade Center attack led to Afghanistan, and then back to Saudi Arabia, where the ideological basis for radical Islam begins. Most liberals and Democrats were unanimously in favor of the toppling of the Taliban, who harbored and supported Al Qaeda.
Further, the liberals and the Democrats were in power for the eight years of the continuation of Bush Sr.'s policy of No-Fly Zones, targeted strikes, inspections, and sanctions in Iraq. This policy was successful - disarming Iraq and keeping their neighbors safe from Iraqi threats. Iraq was not a participator in international terrorism, and certainly not against the USA.
The Bush administration effectively abandoned the effort to fight terrorism, and instead fought a war of choice and opportunity in Iraq, and in the process lied repeatedly about the basis for doing so. They ignored warnings that the information they used was faulty, and there is considerable evidence they cooked the information deliberately. We know, for example that Cheney continued to spout information he'd been informed was discredited. It seems every "mistake" they made was in their favor.
It also appears that they badly miscalculated virtually every administrative aspect of the war, from reconstruction costs, to the response of Iraqis, to having a basic exit strategy. Meanwhile, Halliburton gets tons of no-bid contracts, and suddenly billions of dollars are missing. Oh, and tens of thousands of people are dead.
And the net result is that we're in a Vietnam-style quagmire in Iraq, there is a popular insurgency, and even the CIA admits there are far more terrorists now then when we began. The whole effort has been counter-productive in fighting terrorism.
What I personally would suggest is to orchestrate pulling out of Iraq with a UN peacekeeping mission there. Getting the US out is the first step towards a solution in Iraq. WE are the cause of the trouble there. Second, I would redouble the efforts to secure and rebuild Afghanistan. The Taliban is back in control of many sections of that country, and they really are dangerous people. Further, I'd purge the intelligence agencies of the administration stooges and industry shills, and try to get real, unbiased information and intelligence to work with.
It's pretty clear that the present strategy has not worked. We did not plan for the insurgency. We did not plan for adequate reconstruction. We didn't expect to lose so many American soldiers. And we sure didn't plan to make ourselves hated in the middle east, or to alienate our traditional allies and make the US hated worldwide. It will take decades to undo the damage this administration has done to both the world and our own credibility.
Capslock