For those who want linkage between Saddam and Osama before they will support a war in Iraq, I have to ask if the linkage must be between Saddam and specific terrorists? What I mean is must we prove that Saddam is supporting the particular branch of terrorism known as al Qaida? Becuase if not, then we already know that Saddam supports terrorism in Israel by giving cash payments to suicide bombers (i.e. terrorists) to give to their families.
And that raises another question: is the War on Terror only a war on al Qaida or a war on all terrorism? If you recall President Bush’s speeches announcing the war, you will remember that he said our war is with all terrorists anywhere and the regimes that support them. In that case, any attack on Saddam is not pre-emptive, but retaliatory and to prevent further aggression against us and our allies.
But then I’ve never thought the war in Iraq would be pre-emptive. It’s a continuation of the 1991 war. That war ended without a permanent peace treaty, but with a demand that Saddam meet certain conditions first. He has never met those conditions and therefore any warfare would be an end of the temporary truce, not a breaking of permanent peace.
