Reply #14: Maybe the war on terror is like WWII [View All]

[klook]

but the Iraq occupation sure as hell isn't. The right-wing post referenced below illustrates the way the Right likes to conflate the war on Iraq with the war on terror:
http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=7595

The neocons are trying very hard to make Americans believe the following:
1. The war on terror is as vital and worthy a struggle as World War II.
2. The Iraq war is part of the war on terror.
3. Therefore, the Iraq war is as great and worthy a struggle as World War II.

This is absolute crap. Fighting terrorism certainly is important, and we will never win any points by pretending that it isn't. But it's just inaccurate to say it's as important as WWII. WWII was a sprawling, global armed conflict against enemies who were actively trying to kill us and our allies, with hundreds of thousands of American casualties, and many more dead from other countries. Maybe the war on terror will become that big in scale and importance, but it isn't there yet.

Furthermore, the Iraq war's only relation to the war on terror is that it's strengthening the terrorists! Waging war against Saddam Hussein, and subsequently occupying Iraq, have done nothing to make America safe from terrorism.

Finally, to suggest that the war on Iraq is as worthy a cause as WWII is completely idiotic and an insult to the intelligence of Americans--or any human, for that matter. Iraq was not actively trying to kill us or our allies, as everyone now knows. Getting rid of Saddam Hussein is a good thing, but trashing an entire country and creating many new heads for the hydra of terrorism in the process is a terrible thing.