yes al queda came to us in iraq, and many many innocent civilians have been killed because of this. saddam may have been bad but we've been worse. we've done more torture, brought more random violence, and have generally helped bin laden's cause by doing all of this. democracy can't be forced upon a country, and democracy isn't some magical pure thing. hitler and saddam came to power through democracy. the whole point is that they have to choose it and fight for it themselves. military invasions only unify a country against the invaders. look at iran. there is a strong movement to reform things now, if we act in ways to help them reform (like diplomatic pressure which makes it harder for the bad guys to maintain a powerbase) then things will improve,but if we invade right off the bat all we do is unite all of iran against us.
is America really safe if we've antagonized half the world, and increased the number of terrorists who want to attack us? The iraq war has done this.
there was a study done in 2005 after abu graib. saddam may have been bad, but he was more pointed. he tortured specific people and killed certain people. the death toll has been higher and more chaotic, the torture and abuses have also been random towards people who were guilty of nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. a lot of people detained are there because someone gave their name or they had the bad luck of being picked up, no evidence, no trial. the atmosphere of recklessness under bush's lead lead to that.
and i would think that anyone who loved America would be horrified by our actions and want to root out the problems in our system and our leaders so that America can once again be the respected good guys we used to be.
Associated
Press:
- Top U.S. counterterrorism officials Monday said Al Qaeda is "imploding" and that its violent tactics have turned Muslims worldwide against the organization.
Al Qaeda still remains the most dangerous threat to the United States. But of growing concern are organizations like Lebanese Hezbollah and Hamas, which combine social services, local governance, national politics with extremist attacks, said Undersecretary of State James Glassman.
Vastly more Muslims than Westerners are killed by Al Qaeda car and suicide bombs, particularly in Iraq, where local tribes have largely turned against Al Qaeda in Iraq in the last two years.
Extremist violence claimed more than 9,500 civilian victims in Muslim countries in 2007.
