$10 Billion but no Cigar, er...Terrorists...

Everyone, it seems, but Mr. Bush and the leading lights of his administration knew that the 9/11 attacks were coordinated and carried out by terrorists, most of which came from Saudi Arabia, and were linked to the famous Saudi person, Osama bin Laden. Mr. Bush, following the advice of his god, who spoke to him, decided the way to catch these terrorists and punish them -- which he swore he would do -- was to invade Iraq, depose Sadam Hussein, and steal all of Iraq's oil.

From the viewpoint of an oilman, which Bush pretends to be, it wasn't all that bad a plan; he could avoid bombing his Saudi friends, the Saudi Royals, and he could fool the American people by pretending Iraq was a
hotbed of terrorism!

The problem was it had no chance of capturing and punishing the terrorists, as the terrorists were not in Iraq, did not come from Iraq, had no connection with Iraq, and Saddam Hussein had absolutely nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks.

That incredibly stupid decision by Mr. Bush has led to a five-year war which has destroyed the country, killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, forced hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to flee to other countries, killed over 4,000 U.S. military, resulted in an Iraqi civil war, brought about the intervention of the Al Qaeda terrorist group which had no interest in Iraq previous to this misguided adventure, destroyed the U.S. economy -- and the end is not in sight.


What's truly puzzling is that everyone knows that the perpetrators of 9/11 lived for years in Afghanistan, moving later across a mountainous 373-mile border into Pakistan's unpoliced tribal areas, which is where many believe Osama bin Laden is "hiding," and making video tapes to tweak the nose of Mr. Bush.

Is there something wrong with this picture? The Associated Press reported a few days ago that "Terrorists are still operating freely in Pakistan along the country's Afghanistan border, despite the U.S. giving Pakistan more than $10.5 billion in military and economic aid, according to the Government Accountability Office. The AP also said the GAO said that "the U.S. lacks a comprehensive plan to deal with the terrorist threat."

You think?

Wait, what are we doing in Iraq if Osama and his friends are hiding out in Pakistan? And isn't Pakistan supposed to be one of our allies in the so-called "war" on terror? If we had to invade Iraq for some reason, why didn't Pakistan take our money and hunt down bin Laden, instead of just taking our money?


The Defense Department, naturally, disputes the claim that the U.S. does not have a plan. Of course we have a plan and it's being implemented says Gordon Johndroe, of the National Security Council. We're doing a lot to deal with the terrorist threat in Pakistan. "We devote resources to health, education, economic development, political reform, as well as going after al-Qaida with the Pakistani security forces."

Hmmm...some plan, the end result being that the Afghan farmers are in hog heaven, because they're making big bucks growing poppies which are turned into feel-good drugs and sold all over the world and ... the US of A!

After seven years, and $10.5 billion dollars, we not only financed the poppy growers, but Osama's running free, and the GAO discovered "that al-Qaida had regenerated its ability to attack the United States and had succeeded in establishing a safe haven in Pakistan's border area."


So, tell me again why we are in Iraq...and why did we give Pakistan $10.5 billion?