the rix mix

On this sad anniversary is it crucially important to remember that we were not attacked by Iraq on September 11, 2001. The planners & perpetrators were mostly from Saudi Arabia. George W. Bush & his war masters know this, but they will never remind us. The terrible irony is that in 2001 Saddam Hussein was a graft-ridden failure occupied with maintaining opulent lifestyles for himself, his family & his allies, but he was suppressing Islamic radicals within the borders of Iraq with a mediocre military, a network of spies, & the kind of unfettered brutality America has always tolerated from our Pakistani, South Korean & Central American "friends." We unleashed the whirlwind we are now riding in Iraq. Over 1000 American soldiers dead, thousands more physically & emotionally maimed who as veterans will need our care & compassion for the next 50 years, & God knows how many innocent Iraqi dead & wounded. It is absurd to say, as a majority of Americans seem to, that this war was a terrible mistake & yet believe the leader who started & is waging a conflict based upon misinformation, miscalculations & outright lies is also the best qualified to find a way to end it. We didn't go into Iraq in order to create & fight radical Sunni & Shiite leaders with personal armies that control most of the major cities. But that is exactly what has happened. & the one man who bears the responsibility & fault for this tragic situation is President George W. Bush.

We have hardly begun to wage a "War on Terrorism." Bush doesn't seem to understand that terrorism is a tactic, not an ideology. We are not protecting ourselves or doing anything to reassure predominately Islamic countries that this "war" is not ultimately against them. & We have lost the unified good will of a world that supported us on 9/11.


No Longer There
Montgomery St. Jersey City looking east toward Hudson River, photo © by Bob Rixon
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