The Iraqi War; Bush's Gift to Osama was launched based on Saddam's Thoughts?

This whole disaster began in Sept of 2001.  We were attacked not by a country but by a group.  We went to war in Afghanistan to find this group and most of all their leader, who boasted of the attack.  We did not, nor have we yet, found that leader, Osama. 

Congress, in a somewhat knee jerk reaction to the attack of 9-11, passed the Patriot Act.  Many who voted for it, now tell us they really didn't know what the contents of the Act were at the time they voted for it.  There is no excuse for that.  Congress should have been more concerned about protecting the rights of the  American people and should have been more responsible in taking such a drastic step.   Congress should have taken time to read the contents of the Patriot Act, and they should have thought about its effects.  But, in a hurried and admittedly thoughtless attempt to protect us from our enemies, they voted for it and at the same time they turned us over to, and placed us in the custody of  Attorney General John Ashcroft, without giving us a chance to protest, protect or defend ourselves.  We were designated guilty until proven innocent.  They tossed our rights out and made us less free.  That must have pleased Osama, because bush tells us that Osama attacked us because he hated our freedom.  So what was this administration's reaction?  They took away some of our freedom. 

Then, while our country was at war in Afghanistan as we searched for Osama, the administration created a reason to take this war to Iraq.   They convinced this same Congress that Saddam and Iraq were an imminent threat to our very existence.  Again Congress voted first, and thought about it later.  But when they got around to thinking about it, it was too late.  It's still too late to save the lives of at least five hundred soldiers and god only knows how many innocent Iraqis.  It's too late to stop this war, and we can't seem to end it.  It's too late to avoid the deaths.  If the members of Congress had done what we did, if they had paid attention to the weapons inspectors' reports before the war, maybe they could have stopped the killing before it began.  Maybe if anyone in this administration really wanted war to be a means of last resort, they would have paid attention to those same reports.  Think back now, was there one single reason that this administration gave for going to war that has proven to be true?  Remember also that bush gave Saddam a chance to leave his country and to go into exile, so evidently bush was not concerned about apprehending Saddam at all.  Regime change seems to me to be an excuse of last resort.

Now, we know that Iraq was not an imminent threat or danger.  We have been told they had no weapons of mass destruction, and the best they can do is to say that Saddam thought about having weapons of mass destruction.  We are at war because the leader of a country thought about harming us?  We broke with American tradition and invaded and occupied a country, because that country's leader had thoughts of mass destruction.  Was he thinking about massively destructing the United States?  The United States already had the weapons he was thinking about having, so why would he even start a war with the US?  His thoughts verses our weapons?   He may have been mean and cruel, but no one, so far, has said he was an idiot. 

Osama stated that he was angry at the US for having troops in Saudi Arabia, so he arranged to have some of his men hijack American planes and fly them into US buildings.  His plan resulted in the deaths of about three thousand American citizens, and in August of 2003, we withdrew our troops stationed in Saudi Arabia.  So, Osama actually got what he wanted and he's still free.  If however, based on the "guilty as a result of thoughts" theory, he had just thought about harming Americans, then we would most likely have him in custody today.

Twice Congress didn't think and we lost.  Saddam thought and he lost.  Osama acted and he's free. 

patricia

Patricia Ernest,  nesters@bellsouth.net gives us this bio:

I live in the wonderful state of Florida.

I am a mom to Murphy (my precious pup) and Fred (my occasionally precious cat).

I share my life, my laughter, my world and all of my love with my husband and have for 16 years.

I would describe myself as a very sentimental and sensitive person who is forever willing to share my point of view whether or not it has been requested of me.  This article is copyright by Patricia Ernest,  originally published by opednews.com Permission is granted to forward this or to place it on a website as long as the article is included intact, including this statement.  New! Pissed Off Patricia's BLog