Why Bush's personal war in Iraq is a failure

In the wake of the al Qaeda bombings in London Daniel Benjamin explains why the war in Iraq has made it less safe.

"It is, of course, bad manners to point the finger at anyone but those responsible for the killings in London. They shed the blood; they must answer for it. But as the trail of bodies that began with the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 continues to lengthen, we need to ask why the attacks keep coming."

The answer is clear. Bush's tough talk, costumed walks on aircraft carriers with hearty and false declarations of "Mission Accomplished" and his unnecessary and incompetent invasion of Iraq were not the solution to the al Qaeda terrorists. Instead it has been a major asset to bin Laden.

"One key reason is that Osama bin Laden's "achievements" in standing up to the American colossus on 9/11 have inspired others to follow his lead. Another is that American actions--above all, the invasion and occupation of Iraq--have galvanized still more Muslims and convinced them of the truth of bin Laden's vision.
The conflict between radical Islam and the West, like all ideological struggles, is about competing stories. The audience is the global community of Muslims. America portrays itself as a benign and tolerant force that, with its Western partners, holds the keys to progress and prosperity. Radical Islamists declare that the universe is governed by a war between believers and World Infidelity, which comes as an intruder into the realm of Islam wearing various masks: secularism, Zionism, capitalism, globalization. World Infidelity, they argue, is determined to occupy Muslim lands, usurp Muslims' wealth and destroy Islam.

Invading Iraq, however noble the U.S. believed its intentions, provided the best possible confirmation of the jihadist claims and spurred many of Europe's alienated Muslims to adopt the Islamist cause as their own. The evidence is available in the elaborate underground railroad that has brought hundreds of European Muslims to the fight in Iraq. And the notion that the West would enhance its security by occupying Iraq has proved utterly illusory. Coalition forces in Iraq face daily attacks from jihadists not because Saddam Hussein had trained a cadre of terrorists--we know there was no pre-existing relationship between Baghdad and al-Qaeda--but because the U.S. invasion brought the targets into the proximity of the killers.

Iraq is a hot potato. As Colin Powell said, we broke it, we own it.

Now we stand there with our hands burning and trying to find someone to throw the potato to.

Everyone is obviously hiding from the potato-holders. They don't want it either. Why clean up after Bush's stupidity?

Bin Laden is hidden in his secret Pakistani lair and no doubt thanks Allah each day for the grace with which he gave al Qaeda such stupid and incompetent opponents as Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld.