Did Al Qaeda Game Bush into Iraq War? (Juan Cole this AM)

[carolinayellowdog]

http://juancole.com/
(second post today)
excerpt:
Even though Libi recanted his earlier disinformation, Vice President Dick Cheney has continued to rely on his allegations. Note that it should no longer be necessary for the US to depend on a single unreliable source such as Libi, since it has captured the Baath intelligence files and should by now know pretty much exactly what the Baath government was up to with regard to terrorism. If the US does not know, it would be because it irresponsibly gave those intelligence files to Ahmad Chalabi.

[Ready4Change]

1. Not in my opinion.

I just think that war in Iraq suited almost all parties involved. Perhaps even Saddam at the beginning.

The Bush administration wanted military action to invigorate patriotic loyalties, capture oil, get vengence for threats to Bush Sr., and provide a military sandbox.

Al Qaeda wanted a war in Iraq to prove that America is a threat to the Arab world, fire up islamic radicalism, and oust the secular Iraq government which had resisted al Qaeda attempts to infiltrate that nation up to that point.

Saddam wanted increased tensions in order to keep the international limelight on himself, in order to present himself as the point man in the conflict between the the Arab world and the West. The higher the tensions, the more he appeared to be a hero. And if it came to war, there was a chance it would be like the first Gulf War, where by just surviving with his leadership intact he could claim victory.

If anyone gamed the US into the Iraq War it was Chalabi. He provided a lot of the contacts who gave us misleading information, and wanted us to oust Saddam and put him (Chalabi) into control. So if you think al Qaeda did this, you might also need to think Chalabi was in cahoots with them.

[indigobusiness]

2. Was Bush suckered by Al Qaeda? Or was AQ just another excuse?

Or did Bushco line up their ducks, and build a wall of excuses for an invasion they wanted, and were denied, in Gulf War1?

Who, in their right mind, would think invading Iraq would impact Al Qaeda adversly? Invading Iraq was sheer oportunism.

[greenman3610]

3. chalabi

In my opinion, Chalabi, now proven to be a double agent,
spread Iranian disinformation to the Bush administration
in order to draw them into this war. The situation
has tightened the control of the hardline fundies in Iran,
and throughout the Islamic world, and helped them
press their nuclear program into high gear.
Meanwhile, the US can be kept tied down in
Iraq and slowly bled out with minimal cost to Iran.


I put this to Cole at a lecture recently, and he discounted it.
But his theory shows hes thinking along the same lines,
just different actors.
Point is, somebody ju-jitsued the Bush Administration into
this briar patch, because they knew they were dealing with
greedy, ignorant, arrogant people.

[indigobusiness]

4. Can't argue with any of that, especially the last sentence.

The world shouted "QUAGMIRE...TARBABY...ANOTHER VIETNAM...NO JUSTIFICATION FOR WAR...ETC...ETC..." Yet the determination for a headlong rush into pig-headed oblivion prevailed. How anyone, or any group, could be so monumentally misguided is a puzzle for the ages.
No single entity could be responsible, Chalabi is a link in the chain that connects to the nose ring of BushCo. Who holds the other end remains to be seen.