Pacific Views

As Patton said (in the movie): "The last great opportunity of a lifetime and I'm left out of it? God will not allow it to happen. All my life I've wanted to lead a lot of men in a desperate battle. I love it, God help me, I do love it. I love it more than my life."

I can easily imagine Dubya saying that.

--ventura county, ca

"If this is true, it's just what Dubya's administration needs to make a 'real' link between the war in Iraq and the 'war on terror,' instead of the spurious link they've been using for ages." - Magpie

I don't see how this changes things. Few would deny that al-Qaeda is involved in Iraq now, after the fact, after Bush's war gave them the motive and opportunity they needed. What does that have to do with why the U.S. went to war in the first place? Bush's argument has always been (as best I understand it) that Iraq and al-Qaeda had connections before 9/11. The presence of al-Qaeda in Iraq now, during the war, does not prove what Bush alleges.

Fortunately for Bush, Americans seem predisposed to believe there has always been a connection, despite evidence to the contrary. Given that credulity, Bush can probably get away with twisting this latest event as "evidence" for the validity of his ongoing lies about a connection.

your last sentence is exactly the point i thought i was making.

washington will have a much easier time keeping people in the US convinced that war in iraq = war on terror if there's concrete evidence of al-qaeda operating in iraq. unfortunately, i think that the fact that al-qaeda only showed up in iraq *after* (and as a result of) the invasion of iraq will probably be lost on most people. and thoroughly ignored by dubya & his minions.