By Bill Douglass, trib.com
About 12 years ago, I wrote a letter to the editor opposing the Bush-Cheney invasion of Iraq. I didn’t really realize it at that time, what a complete disaster that war would turn out to be, I just thought it was totally unjustified and contrary to most American ideals, such as, respect for life.
I remember clearly, the inflammatory rhetoric, mushroom clouds that would appear on the horizon if we failed to act. There were false allegations, about such things as Iraq’s involvement with al-Qaida, that the CIA and FBI found no credible evidence to back up. The Bush-Cheney administration persisted however, and eventually enough low-information voters were convinced, and we subsequently invaded the wrong country. The 9-11 terrorists, after all, were Saudis, not Iraqis.
We have been playing God in the Middle East for decades, and safe to say, it is not going well. Ironically, Bin Laden gave us the best advice regarding the Middle East, when he told us to get out.