Invading Iraq did not make us safer
The New York Times is running a story suggesting that a new National Intelligence Estimate states that we are not safer. Who is surprised? The only way we could have been made safer by invading Iraq would have been to do things that we didn’t do. We would’ve had to seal the borders to incoming jihadists. We didn’t do that. We would’ve had to have restored order immediately after taking Baghdad and we didn’t. We would’ve had to set up a thriving economy which would have been a model to the rest of the Middle East but we didn’t. We would have had to have shown the Iraqi citizens and other citizens of the Middle East that we treat everyone with dignity and respect, unfortunately we didn’t. In spite of the invasion, we had multiple opportunities to prove to Muslims throughout the world that we are a caring and thoughtful people. At almost every turn, we’ve done something egregious to anger more Muslims. Whether it is allowing looting or our inability to restore basic services or are indiscriminately breaking into houses and rounding up all Iraqi men old enough to carry a weapon and humiliating that man in front of his family or the practice of arresting the family when the man is not home (could be considered kidnapping in some circles) or a multitude of other shortsighted, insensitive practices.
Of course, one could have read the report on terrorism that the Center for American Progress and Council on Foreign Relations commissioned a couple of months ago. The Center for American Progress gathered approximately 100 experts on terrorism. These experts were Republicans, Democrats and independents. Only 10% thought that America was safer. On the other hand 86% (remember that these are terrorism experts) thought that we are less safe!!
