Remember 9/11; Forget Iraq

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Remember 9/11; Forget Iraq
by James Hall, Senior Associate Editor

September 11, 2002

"Leaning Left"

James Hall On 9/11 we pause as a nation to remember our American dead treacherously killed at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on United Flight 93. We remember those Americans who gave their lives to rescue their fellow citizens in trouble, and those who fought against their captors, saving the country further damage and humiliation. We also honor those who have taken the fight to our enemies in Afghanistan and abroad, some of whom have given their lives for us.

But the first anniversary of 9/11 ought to make us pause and consider if widening the war to a nation (Iraq) that most likely didn't participate in the 9/11 attacks on America is actually a good thing. No evidence exists that Iraq knew of or acted in the events of 9/11, so why consider a war with it, instead of continuing to focus on al-Qaeda, an organization that remains a real and considerable threat today?

America is a nation founded on principles based on self-defense, not on aggression against others, however good the reason for it may be. Our history is one of a people slow to anger but quick to respond against those who attack us. Because of this, historically we've been on the right side of most conflicts.

But now President Bush wants to attack an opponent who has done us no great harm, based on the abstract possibility that Iraq 1) might develop weapons of mass destruction; and 2) might then use them on us. Using this reasoning, we should also attack Iran, North Korea, China and a whole host of other nations.

What happened to the candidate Bush who warned the nation against overextending our military in a series of overseas wars and conflicts? The war on terrorism ought to drive all our efforts now---the continuing mission in Afghanistan, the collateral missions in the Philippines, Georgia, Yemen, and other places where al-Qaeda is active, and the new emphasis on homeland security. Adding yet another front to this conflict, and a major front at that, jeopardizes our efforts against the very people who funded and organized the 9/11 attack.

Yes, Saddam Hussein is a bloody tyrant, vicious and cruel to his own people, troublesome to his neighbors. But we defeated him convincingly a decade ago for attacking his neighbor Kuwait. We destroyed half his army and most of his weaponry then, and placed him under sanctions that are still in place.

We can and should push Iraq into returning weapons inspectors to continue the work they began in 1992 dismantling Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. We can even bomb those installations capable of creating weapons of mass destruction as we did in 1992 and 1998 in Desert Storm and Desert Shield. But at a time when this country is hunkered down awaiting another al-Qaeda attack, it makes no sense to add Saddam Hussein to the list of combatants and expose thousands of American soldiers and sailors to the effects of weapons of mass destruction.

On the anniversary of 9/11, let's honor our dead, who died in a cowardly attack on this nation, and let's continue to focus our efforts on destroying our acknowledged enemy - al Qaeda - leaving Iraq and Saddam Hussein for a better time. ***

Photo of the author courtesy of staff files