Carpe Datum

The Context of Events

Eric Alterman, whose web site is really screwed up by MSNBC at the moment, has what I think is the proper take on the effect of Saddam's capture on the "War on Terror", similar to Howard Dean's stance on the whole thing:

The capture of Saddam makes America no safer. America was never threatened by Iraq. Every single one of the scare tactics employed by the administration in their game of bait and switch designed to exploit the trauma of 9/11 to deploy the neocons’ longtime plan to invade Iraq has proven an exaggeration, a chimera or a lie. There were no WMDs; no nukes, and no connections to Al Qaida. Saddam was being effectively contained at the moment George Bush chose to plunge the world into war.

Meanwhile, the men who attacked us REMAIN FREE TO DO SO AGAIN—in part due to the fact that we have wasted our resources—and the world’s good will--on Bush’s Iraqi obsession. And we are hardly much better prepared than we were last time. Our nuclear and chemical plants remain all but unprotected; so too our ports and infrastructure. Our first responders are untrained and our cities starved for resources to defend themselves. The mass media might not remember that a “war on terrorism” is supposed to address actual terrorists, but we do.

Capturing Saddam Hussein is a blow for justice; and it will be a good thing for Iraqis, no doubt. But if all this war was about was making Iraqis safer, well, then, Bush should have said so. But then, of course, it would never have happened. And we would all be better off.

As I've said before, capturing Saddam may well turn out to be a watershed moment in Iraqi history and the Iraq war, leading us to better times, but only if this administration takes advantage of the opportunity to dramatically change the way they are carrying out this occupation. Overall, it is undeniably good news, and it undeniably sends a major message to tinpot dictators around the world to be careful with America, but even that message has to be greatly muted by the fact that so many other evil men remain in power with our friendship and assistance (CalPundit quoted a few examples in my post recently).

So in the end, this may be good for Iraq, but I still do not see how it helps America (other than to possibly get us out of the mistake that is the Iraq war sooner rather than later). The sooner we can extract ourselves with some face, the better, and if Saddam's capture hastens that, then bravo.

Posted by Observer at December 17, 2003 06:52 AM