Iraq War

Before beginning posting about the current conflict in Iraq I feel the need to state my thoughts regarding the war. After 9-11 I trusted our President to lead our nation competently, honorably, and mercilessly in eliminating the extreme threat posed by al-Qaeda. While President Bush did not handle the Afghanistan war perfectly (waiting too long to send Special Forces in) he did handle it competently and successfully with the destruction of the Taliban and the beginnings of a stable government. The Administration has mismanaged the development of the Afghan government but that analysis and argument is for another day. When our President and his cabinet members shifted gears and began to speak to our nation about the threat posed by Iraq I believed him. I believed that Saddam had WMDs and that he was intimately connected with al-Qaeda. Now after the invasion has uncovered no stockpiles of WMDs, no ties between Saddam and al-Qaeda, and no evidence of an imminent threat I questioned our leader's competence in leading our nation. Now with the scandal at Abu Ghraib, the lack of troops to secure Iraqi security, and the general ineptness in running a nation, I fear that the one benefit to starting this ill-advised war (a free and democratic nation in the Middle East) will be frittered away. Change in the management of the occupation is necessary, but I fear that under the leadership of President Bush the necessary changes will not be made. I hope that I am wrong and the situation will stabilize and Iraq will prosper. Only time will tell.