By Laurie Mylroie on 9.15.08 @ 12:07AM
Gov. Palin raises an important Iraq-terrorism question.
The pit bull with lipstick gave a rousing send-off to U.S.
soldiers headed for Iraq: You are going to "defend the innocent
from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the
death of thousands of Americans." Guess what? The establishment
reacted with horror! The Washington Post complained the governor did not understand that
any idea Saddam Hussein had been involved in 9/11 was quite
discredited, while the McCain camp rushed to explain she was
speaking about al Qaeda in Iraq, rather than Saddam.
Whatever Sarah Palin meant, Saddam did rejoice at the
9/11 attacks. He asserted on September 12, "The United States reaps
the thorns that its rulers have planted in the world." We might
make more of that, and Saddam's subsequent gloating, but the
"entrenched interests" Palin challenged so powerfully at the
Republican National Convention also exist when it comes to
understanding terrorism, particularly the 9/11 attacks. At stake
are careers, and the CIA and others past and present who have dealt
with terrorism are heavily invested in absolving Iraq for 9/11. If
Iraq was involved in the 9/11 attacks, it means they all made a
tremendous blunder during the previous eight years back to 1993 and
the first assault on the World Trade Center. That is, the
Clinton administration more broadly; along with the Republicans who
led Congress then, and subsequently even the Bush White House which
failed to question the Clinton-era explanation of terrorism with
any meaningful vigor -- that it was all basically the product of
stateless, messianic Islamic networks.
topics:
Trade, Sarah Palin, Islam, Iraq
