The American Spectator - A Very Dangerous Place
Who beheaded Nicholas Berg? Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi -- the very terrorist the Bush administration before the war presented to skeptics as an example of Saddam Hussein's ties to terrorism. In his 2003 address to the United Nations Security Council, Colin Powell said that "Iraq today harbors a deadly terrorist network headed by Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi."
Zarqawi received safe haven in Iraq, said Powell, traveling "to Baghdad in May 2002 for medical treatment, staying in the capital of Iraq for two months while he recuperated to fight another day.…During this stay, nearly two dozen extremists converged on Baghdad and established a base of operations there. These al Qaeda affiliates, based in Baghdad, now coordinate the movement of people, money and supplies into and throughout Iraq for his network, and they've now been operating freely in the capital for more than eight months."
Iraq was a stronghold of terrorists (does not mean they are implicated in 9/11) and still is. At least the exportation of terrorism from Iraq can be minimized and it is no longer government sponsored. Now is the time to crush them. No more messing around; the people of Iraq and our military and allies are now the victims of terrorism.
Posted by Tim at May 18, 2004 08:36 AMre: "...Now is the time to crush them. No more messing around...." No one disagrees that terrorism must end. How do we do it, though? A decent argument is made by the Left that every day we stay in Iraq, terrorism worsen---because most likely the recruiters for the terrorists (in all sorts of different countries, not just Iraq) keep pointing fingers at the mess in Iraq. And probably sign up two terrorists (again in all sorts of different countries) for every one we shoot in Iraq. I'm not arguing that we leave immediately, just that in my opinion crushing terrorism can't be done by the military alone.
Posted by: Tom at May 18, 2004 12:54 PM
