Steve Chapman
Is there a better columnist around than the Chicago Tribune's Steve Chapman? What I mean by that, of course, is that there isn't a columnist around that I agree with more -- or more often -- than this one.
Case in point is this column in the Sunday Tribune regarding the continuing fallout of the misbegotten foray into Iraq.
Case in point is this column in the Sunday Tribune regarding the continuing fallout of the misbegotten foray into Iraq.
Lately, it has been possible for those of us on this side of the ocean to almost forget that our greatest challenge is the global threat of Islamic terrorism. That's because we've been preoccupied by the relentless violence and chaos in Iraq, where we are mired in a war we don't know how to win.
Looking at our current predicament, you almost feel nostalgic for the days when all we had to worry about was how to stop Al Qaeda from slaughtering more people on American soil--as if that weren't hard enough.
The bombings in London are a gruesome but unmistakable reminder that the war on terror ought to be Priority 1, Priority 2 and Priority 3. But as long as we're up to our necks in Iraq, terrorism will not get the attention and resources it demands.
We may be distracted by Iraq, but the terrorists are not. If anything, our messy occupation of a Muslim country works to the advantage of Islamic militants by inspiring new recruits every day.
Even in Iraq, the head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency has said that despite all the insurgents we have killed, their numbers are growing. If our enemies are multiplying in Iraq, they are bound to be multiplying elsewhere, where the hazards they face are much less formidable.
President Bush pretends that the war there is part of the global war on terror. In fact, Iraq has reduced that problem to a secondary mission. And we're finding that it's hard to put out the fire in your house when your hand is trapped in the drainpipe. ...
We've poured more than $200 billion down the drain in Iraq. If even a small part of that money had been spent on homeland security, Americans would undoubtedly be safer today. U.S. soldiers might have been used to hunt down those enemies who want to carry out atrocities here or in Britain, instead of fighting insurgents who merely want us out of Iraq.
The war on Iraq was never vital to our security. The war on terror is.
posted by dgags @ 5:31 PM
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