I should be reviewing my book proofs, but I can’t help but take a minute to address something I heard Senator McCain say.
I have a great deal of respect for the McCain-he opposes torture, says some sensible things about immigration and used to be a voice of reason among the conservatives.
But, he actually keeps saying that if we leave Iraq, the terrorists will follow us home. While it is true that having Americans in Iraq makes it a bit easier for the terrorists (it is a shorter trip through the rather open borders of Iraq, for example) it is not true that fighting them there somehow prevents them from coming here.
As I have said before, we are not playing a board game like Risk here. In Risk, you have to fight through enemy territory (and capture it) to get to territory behind that. So, in that sort of war game, having a buffer works-they have to fight you there if they are going to eventually attack you here.
But, the terrorists don’t have to beat us in Iraq to come here. They can simply come here and attack us directly if they want to. Given the pathetic nature of homeland security, it is quite obvious that if they wanted to be here doing damage, they could. After all, our borders are mostly wide open. We have dumped money into Iraq rather than enhancing proper security in America. The way domestic problems are handled (like storms and flooding) show that America is poorly prepared to handle trouble.
Given the evidence, the logical conclusion about Iraq is that we are dumping money into a pit and sacrificing lives for nothing. The Bush administration has done terrifying damage to America by getting us in Iraq and McCain has made a catastrophic mistake in sticking with Bush. It is no wonder his campaign is dying.
I feel bad about that-I think McCain could have been a contender.
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