No one seems to be writing opinion pieces quite the way I would, so I decided to do it myself.

The name? Taverns are places where one goes to discuss the interesting events and things in the world, so this is my tavern.

I will offer my views on politics, economics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I will occasionally publish the entire article from another journal for purposes of causing discussion.

 

Clark - A major reason for the War in Iraq was for Republicans to run on the security issue in 2002

Today's Washington Post has more from Richard Clark.

First, according to Clark the war on Iraq has not advanced the war against terror. It has, in fact, strengthened the hands of the various terrorists.

Although expressing points of disagreement with all four presidents, Clarke reserves by far his strongest language for George W. Bush. The president, he said, "failed to act prior to September 11 on the threat from al Qaeda despite repeated warnings and then harvested a political windfall for taking obvious yet insufficient steps after the attacks." The rapid shift of focus to Saddam Hussein, Clarke writes, "launched an unnecessary and costly war in Iraq that strengthened the fundamentalist, radical Islamic terrorist movement worldwide."


Second, Clark presented the first explanation for attacking Iraq that is clear enough and powerful enough to justify the decision make by Bush:

"Among the motives for the war, Clarke argues, were the politics of the 2002 midterm election. "The crisis was manufactured, and Bush political adviser Karl Rove was telling Republicans to 'run on the war,' " Clarke writes.

Unlike the search for WMDs, overthrowing a brutal dictator and freeing the Iraqi people, taking control of Iraq's oil, or preventing attacks on the US by Saddam, this reason fits the motivations that the Bush administration have consistently demonstrated. Bush, Rove and Cheney have never taken any action that was not intended to lead to Bush's reelection or perhaps his initial election, depending on how his rise to the White House is viewed.

This is an utterly cynical view of the Bush administration, that they would start an unnecessary war in order to regain control of the Senate, expand control of the House, and lead to his reelection in 2004. It also fits with everything that is known about Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and Tom Delay.

I'll buy that explanation.

posted by Richard at 6:10 AM