A Discussion of Strange Bedfellows

I know that the topic of Iraqi connections with al Qaeda is a relatively "old" topic, but it came up again in a conversation today and so it drove me to write down some thoughts I have had for a while now. There is an argument that is favored mostly by many who are opposed to the war that there is absolutely, positively no connection between Saddam’s Iraq and al Qaeda, or even radical Muslim terrorism in general, nor could there be.

Now, I find this difficult to swallow given the Abu Sayyaf connection (which I have discussed before), the poison factory in the North that is linked to al Qaeda, the whole Abu Nidal thing and so forth. The argument is that Saddam is a secular socialist type and bin Laden has called him an "infidel" and therefore with such incompatible worldviews they would never, could never work together (not even in a box with a fox or on a train in the rain...).

Ok, we can agree, methinks, that both do harbor, shall we say, anti-American sentiment, and that indeed, the major enemy for both is the United States, correct? So, is it reasonable that people with different ideological perspectives and different long-terms goals, but common enemies and immediate goals, might work together? Consider the following:

• Nazi Germany, under Adolph Hitler, signed two major agreements with Imperial Japan, the Tripartite Pact and the Anti-Comintern Pact. These agreement served mutual interests in the short and medium range. However, if anyone has read any significant excerpts from Mein Kampf on Hitler's views on race, it is impossible to conclude that his long-term goal was to befriend the Japanese.

• Also speaking of Nazi Germany, the infamous Hitler-Stalin Pact is a good example of ideological opposites working together, at least for a time. Again, if you know anything about National Socialism, you know that it was virulently anti-Bolshevik (i.e., Soviet Communist). For that matter, Soviet Communism was not exactly an ideological fit with National Socialism.

• Carrying on the WWII theme, the US alliance with Stalin's Soviet Union was hardly an alliance between ideological soul mates who would be friends forevermore after the war.

• And certainly the US has engaged in strategic partnerships with governments that were otherwise antithetical to our values, but served a specific national security purpose (just look at a lot of out dealings in twentieth century Latin America, or our current alliances with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, for that matter..)

So the argument that groups with different, even radically different, goals cannot work together for a time for a common cause strikes me as a non-starter.

Ok, that's off my chest now, back to your regularly scheduled blogomania.

Posted by Steven Taylor at March 19, 2026 07:52 PM | TrackBack