Things that are Annopying me Today (Iran/Iraq version)

Ok, the fact that the Iranians allowed safe passage to a number of men who would become part of the 911 attacks is disturbing and requires more investigation. The information in question comes from an advance leak of part of the forthcoming 911 commission's report.

Now, the part that annoys me is that this one piece of information led to a flurry of questions yesterday from commentators and politicians along the lines of "did we invade the wrong country"? I find this annoying because:

1) This is one rather small piece of information, perhaps we could wait for at leas what the report itself says before we start leaping to conclusions. This is just sloppy reasoning.

2) I note that most of the folks who are asking these questions are critics of the war in Iraq. As such, one has to wonder as to the degree to which they are genuinely asking the question, and the degree to which they are simply using one data point to criticize the administration (and one doesn't have to wonder long).

3) The question presumes that the main rationale for going to war in Iraq was Iraqi ties to the 911 attacks. As we know, it wasn't.

4) Are we really to believe that many of these anti-war types wold have supported a war with Iran because of the safe passage issue? As such they are setting up a false dichotomy in their question, as I do not believe that a) they would have supported such a war, or b) that this one piece of information would have been sufficient to lead to war.

5) It isn't as if this is the first hint we have ever had that Iran has cooperated with al Qaeda or that they are a state sponsor of terrorism. We do all remember the "Axis of Evil" do we not?

6) Part of the policy rationale of democratizing Iraq is that it might have the effect of aiding the reformist in Iran to topple the mullahs.

The part that annoys me the most is #1, because it really is some pretty sloppy thinking.

Posted by Steven Taylor at July 20, 2024 08:17 AM | TrackBack