Fundamentalism (General)

by dhw, Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 08:06 (5653 days ago) @ Carl

Carl asks about the 9/11 atrocities, and says that Walter and I "speak as if the Iraq War occurred in a vacuum. What is their feeling about the Afghanistan invasion?" David says, "How about the London bombings, and those in Spain?" - I obviously can't speak for Walter, but I will answer for myself. The Afghan invasion was a direct response by the US, supported by a large number of other nations, to the terrorist atrocities of 9/11 that you have listed. This was known to be an Al-Qaida operation. The object of the invasion was to seek out the criminals and put an end to the terrorist organization itself and the body that aided them (the Taliban). The General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations agreed that the US and their allies were entitled to take action under the UN Charter, Chapter 7, Article 51 (al-Qaida had in effect declared war on the US). You ask about my feelings. The US had come under direct attack, and in my view they had every right to fight back. Unfortunately, not even the US and its allies can ever win a war in Afghanistan, any more than the Russians could before them, and some experts think the time has now come to negotiate. But that is by the way, and I was in favour of the attack on Al-Qaida and the Taliban. - The London and Madrid bombings were in 2005 and 2004, so what on earth did they have to do with the Iraq invasion in 2003? The only possible connection is that some Muslims have been radicalized by the war in Iraq, i.e. it may well have been a causative factor. You both talk as if opposition to the war somehow entails support of terrorism. It doesn't. But no link has been found ... not for want of trying ... between Saddam and Al-Qaida. No WMDs have been found either. Those were the reasons given for the invasion, and there was mass opposition to it all over the world (including the UN). The reasons given were false, whole cities have been destroyed, and millions of innocent lives lost or ruined as a result (direct or indirect) of our intervention. Those responsible, to quote Walter, "should be held to account". - I have answered your questions. I would be interested to know why you have avoided responding to the points raised by Walter at 9.54 on 9 November, and myself at 13.10 on 10 November.