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Tuesday, 10 October 2006 15:13 |
 | | Roland Martin |
CHICAGO ÇƒÓ If you talk to economists, one will tell you that the economy is going up and the other will say itës going down.
Somebody will be right. And somebody will be wrong.
Unfortunately, such a prediction is a matter of life or death when it comes to our war on terrorism.
After portions of the National Intelligence Estimate were leaked showing that the war in Iraq is leading to a groundswell of support for terrorists across the world, the Bush administration quickly jumped up, asserting that that really wasnët the case.
This
report is an assessment based on the observations of our 16
intelligence agencies. These are the men and women who are the
beneficiaries of the largest intelligence budget in the world, and
after bungling the job leading up to the war in Iraq, they probably
wanted to get this one right.
The classified
report noted that the war in Iraq, as many predicted, would lead to a
new generation of radical Muslims who would seethe with anger for years
at the United States. Forget those terrible videos from Osama bin Laden
and his crew; this war is Exhibit A for these guys to take up arms
against the United States and its allies worldwide.
And we were told we would be a safer nation as a result of invading Iraq.
But the Bush administration quickly jumped out of the box, realizing the potential damage this report could cause.
During a Sept.
26 news conference with Afghanistanës President Hamad Karzai, Bush
essentially insisted that what the report stated really didnët say that.
"You know, to
suggest that if we werenët in Iraq, we would see a rosier scenario with
fewer extremists joining the radical movement requires us to ignore 20
years of experience," he said. "We werenët in Iraq when we got attacked
on September the 11th. We werenët in Iraq, and thousands of fighters
were trained in terror camps inside your country, Mr. President. We
werenët in Iraq when they first attacked the World Trade Center in
1993. We werenët in Iraq when they bombed the Cole. We werenët in Iraq
when they blew up our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. My judgment is,
if we werenët in Iraq, theyëd find some other excuse, because they have
ambitions. They kill in order to achieve their objectives."
There is no
doubt that terrorists have been weakened ÇƒÓ today ÇƒÓ by Americaës war on
terror, but reality also suggests that for every one we kill, we create
dozens more by our actions. For the next 20 years, Mr. President.
But what should
be considered egregious is our unwillingness to accept that something
other than our rosy predictions will happen.
We were told the
Iraqi people would greet us with open arms, but now Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in an interview for CNNës documentary, "CNN
Presents Rumsfeld ÇƒÓ Man of War," admitted that it wasnët as easy as he
and others predicted.
"Well, I think
that anyone who looks at it with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight has to
say that there was not an anticipation that the level of insurgency
would be anything approximating what it is," Rumsfeld said.
Yet what is
shameful is that we didnët need hindsight. There were plenty of
well-paid and well-trained intelligence experts who accurately
predicted the insurgency, but it was stubbornness and a rigid ideology
that has put us in this terrible position.
We have isolated ourselves from the world, asserting that we can fight this battle, for the most part, alone.
But anyone with common sense knows that canët happen.
Now we are
stuck. Today, more Americans have died in Iraq than on Sept. 11, 2001.
We have a country that has been torn to shreds and on the verge of
civil war. Yet none of that matters. Bush, Rumsfeld, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and so many others keep saying, "Stay the course, stay
the course."
They also say that leaving is not an option; the terrorists will think that they have won if we left.
Folks, at some
point we have to take the blinders off, open our eyes and accept the
truth: Iraq will never look like the country the neo-conservatives drew
up. It wonët be a cradle of democracy. It will not be an American
outpost to control the region. Prepare yourself to keep burying more
American soldiers.
The facts are
staring us right in the face. Unfortunately, our political leaders will
readily tell you they donët read the newspapers. I guess that also
applies to classified intelligence reports.
Now how intelligent is that?
ï
Roland S. Martin, editor of The Chicago Defender newspaper, is author of "Speak, Brother! A Black Manës View of America."
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