Iraq poses bigger threat now than before attacks

Dear Editor:

In Allen Hines’s article, “Being Neighborly,” he cites Larry Wortzel as saying that Iraq was a “harmful neighbor who keys your car and attacks your child.”

What I don’t understand is what constitutes keying America’s car and attacking its child?

Does it include Iraq attacking the United States? The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s Phase II reports proved that Iraq had nothing to do with the Sept. 11 attacks. And, there were no attacks by Iraq against the United States since President Bush has been in office. So, this can’t be what Wortzel is referring to.

Does this justification for war include the threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD)? Obviously not, because President Bush didn’t take the time to wait for U.N. weapons inspectors to see if Iraq even had WMDs. Also, no WMDs have been found in Iraq since our invasion.

So, what does this include? Your guess is as good as mine, I have no idea. Then, why did we invade Iraq? Was it to make money for defense contractors, who together with Lockheed Martin donated $10,091,311 to Republicans in 2004? Or was it for the oil and gas industries, which donated $20,587,439 with the help of Exxon Mobil to the Republicans in 2004 (Both amounts are according to opensecrets.org)? I don’t know. What I do know is that we invaded a country that didn’t attack us and posed no real threat to our national security.

And, as a result of our invasion, Iraq has become a breeding ground for insurgents. According to the CIA Web site, a National Intelligence Estimate is the “most authoritative written judgment concerning a national security issue prepared by the Director of Central Intelligence.” The recently released NIE report states that the Iraq War has become a “cause celebre” for terrorists. The U.S. War in Iraq is “breeding a deep resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement.”

So, not only did we have no reason to attack Iraq, we have created an Iraq that poses more of a threat now than it did when we invaded.

Ben Shadle

Junior Integrated life sciences major