Disposed of the Taliban, Stone? The Taliban fell back and re-grouped. The US led coallition forces were too few and too ill-equipped to do much about it--especially after the Bush-Cheney coallition invaded Iraq.

All of a sudden, it seems, bin Laden became much less dangerous than Saddam Hussein. Our good ol' buddy, Saddam, who wanted the "Mother" of all wars, was deposed, tracked down and hung.

Osama bin Laden, who supposedly master-minded 9/11, is still free.

Go figure!

Afghanistan is still the 'forgotten war.'

Psst--Do you think it's about terrorism?

You know what I'm saying. We did dispose of them, for a time. We ran them back to the Hindu Kush in short order but then were left with a tribal, third world nation to deal with.


No. I think they're more wars of convenience. The Taliban needed to be disposed of in part because they didn't provide the security and unity to build a well needed natural gas pipeline across the nation and they harbored a large portion of Al-Qaeda(though Pakistan probably harbored an equal amount at the time).

Stone, What is a 'war of convenience?' So you knwo something the rest of us don't know?

The Taliban have more power now than they did in 2001. If we're fighting a war against terrorism and if the Taliban and/or al Qaeda still exist, how are we fighting terrorism?

Hello Lizbeth I have to say that I have read enough of your posts to say that I like you,you are the kind of person people like me all over the world are praying for today,the world is praying for Americans like you who are standing up and talking truth.To me the question is not what mistakes that were made in Iraq,it's stopping the mistake America will make if it as a country allows George Bush to Bomb Iran,or allows Israel to bomb Iran before he leaves office.

I notice Lizbeth at times you like to ask pointed question like this:


I was asked:


People like me outside America just remember when George Bush's dad talked about the new world order,and to date I have not heard of nothing that suggests that the elite have changed their minds,to achieve their goal of a super government.This is why the elite wanted caos in Iraq.

Smart American Generals who know just as much as Lawmage said that America needed "300000 soldiers to fight the war in Iraq".The whole world can see the difference the surge has made in Iraq,imagine the difference another 150000 troops would have made in this uncalled for war in Iraq.Today all thinking and aware people believe today that America thinks of Iraq now as springboard,to attack Iran to put the last piece in place for the new world order.This is why Iran has to be defeated because Iran is an obsticle to the elite.

Stone I just want to say I have the utmost respect for you,I hope god willing I meet good Americas like you when I come to America one day.

Cass, thank you for your kind words.

I certainly hope the US will not bomb Iran. Our plate is already too full and only foolish people would be taken in, again, if Mr. Bush--or any president--were to try to bamboozle the American people as was done prior to the current Iraqi war. If Israel does, that'll be its decision. I really don't think that it would ask for the USs permission first.

I ask the questions I ask because it's difficult to understand a person sometimes when all you have to go on are words on a computer moniter.

Thank you for your prayers.

To us in Australia Afghanistan was always more important than Iraq. Stone might be right when he says

Both wars were started by using proxies for the real enemy. Saudi Arabia who people were mainly responsible for September 11 and Pakistan where Bib Laden spent most of his time, could not be invaded because their governments were our allies. Iraq was easier to attack and it was design as a message to the whole Arab World.However Arabs are not united so it had little effect. By allowing Sheites to form governments and banishing Sunnies it help give Iran an ally. Oil and gas, were most likely another motive. But Iraq oil fields are underdeveloped and the gas line has to go across several other countries besides Afghanistan.So there will be not much increase in either oil or gas. It is is another area of failure.

In Iraq there has been an attempt to give Sunnies and Kurds some voice in the government now.This is the only realistic solution. Given independence to the Kurds in the North and creating Sunni and Sheite areas will not satisfy anyone as all groups claim land outside their area in Iraq and outside. Also it will make the Kurds rich and the rest of Iraq poor if all the oil revenue goes to the Kurds. It is too late to redraw boundaies of the past and dangerous to draw new ones.

I agree with CassielA we should
We should learn from our mistakes in Iraq and other wars that no matter what short term advantages we will gain by attacking Irran we will reap more enemies for no long term gain. Even if we eliminate the Iran bomb we will not prevent other Muslim countries getting the bomb.,
.

Is it possible to agree that the invasion of Iraq has done nothing to rid the world of terrorists?

I suppose we could agree to such a thing, Liz, as long as you are willing to agree that ridding the world of terrorists was never the goal of the war in Iraq. Seriously, you might point out that the war in Iraq has done nothing to rid the world of Dutch Elm Disease and your "observation" would be equally relevant.

But one of the reasons we were given for the invasion was that Saddam "harbors terrorists" and/or "supports terrorists" and there was an Iraq--9/11 connection, and there would be no reason to use that as an invasion excuse if stopping terrorists were not the goal.

Lizbeth Lawmage has answer your question by saying the Iraq war had nothing to do with terrorism. Most of us think the link between September 11 and the invasiuon of Iraq is obvious. The USA would not have invaded an Arab coiuntry before September 11. This event caused a change of mood in USA atitude towards Arabs

It is certain that the type of terrorist who attacked the World Trade Center were not in Iraq or supported by the government of Iraq before the invasion.
Amongst the many groups that move to Iraq were members of this al_Qaeda group .However there were many other groups that could be call "Terrorist". After all a terrorist is often just a freedom fighter who becames a respected member of a later government. Nelson Mandelo is one example and it is good to see the USA government are now removing him from their terrorist list.

The Iraq war has increased terrorists in Iraq and in the world. It gives the different groups we call terrorist another reasion to hate the USA and the West.