Forget about Saddam, let’s focus on Al-Qaeda

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Forget about Saddam, let’s focus on Al-Qaeda By Larry Atkins OpEdNews.com OK. We got him. Obviously, the capture of Saddam Hussein is a significant boost to the United States' effort to rebuild Iraq and was a magnificent achievement by the American military forces. However, it still doesn't diminish the reality that the Bush administration’s ill-conceived American adventure in Iraq is voodoo foreign policy and a sideshow to the real fight against terrorism. To paraphrase James Carville and the Clinton war room, "It's about Al Qaeda, stupid." Our invasion of Iraq and deposing of Saddam might be good public relations, but as far as fighting terror, it was the equivalent of bombing China after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. Saddam was not an imminent threat to the United States, there were no ties to Al Qaeda, there is still no evidence of weapons of mass destruction, and we failed to organize a broad worldwide coalition in this war. Iran and Syria have much stronger ties to terrorists, yet at this point, we've left them alone. American society is parochial and inward looking. Most Americans are becoming complacent, since there haven't been any post 9-11 attacks on American soil. Many Americans will likely feel safer now that Saddam has been captured, but in reality, we're not. A federal advisory commission recently warned that federal resources and attention from homeland terrorism preparedness have been distracted and lost momentum. Once again, the nation is at an Orange alert. How soon many of us have forgotten that Al-Qaeda has masterminded several attacks of terrorism during the last two years, including Bali, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco. Published reports have indicated that the United States has diverted its attention, manpower, and funding from fighting terrorists in Afghanistan to Iraq. As Reuters reported last week, the Taliban is actively operating in Pakistan. Last week, an assassination attempt of Pakistan President Musharraf barely missed. A recent video sent to the BBC showed that Taliban fighters are roaming freely in southern Afghanistan. Hopefully, now that the Saddam sideshow is over, we can refocus our efforts on the real enemy, Al Qaeda. According to a recent Washington Post article, Al-Qaeda is still receiving a significant amount of funding and governments around the world are not doing nearly enough to enforce global sanctions and curb the terror group's financial resources. Experts believe Osama bin Laden is located on the mountainous border of Afghanistan and Pakistan and that he is being protected by local tribesmen. The humiliating capture of Saddam and any subsequent punishment, including the death penalty, will not have any deterring effect on Al-Qaeda. There is an analogy between the celebration of Iraqis after the fall of Baghdad and last week's celebration over the capture of Saddam Hussein. No doubt that conservative pundits will beat their chests and proclaim "Mission Accomplished," just like they did after the fall of Baghdad to gloat that they were right about invading Iraq. Their gloating will once again be premature. There is still a great deal of anti-American sentiment throughout the Arab world, the insurgent attacks in Iraq are likely to continue, and there is a risk that an Islamic fundamentalist state could rise from democratic elections in Iraq. Obviously, Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who had a tyrannical reign over Iraq. However, despite all the hype, he was a small fish in the war against terrorism. The sharks of Al Qaeda and other terror organizations are still swimming free, waiting to pounce. ------ ------- ----------- ------------ Larry Atkins is a lawyer and freelance writer who lives in Philadelphia. He has written over 175 Op-Eds and essays for major publications across the country, including the Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, National Public Radio, and Philadelphia Inquirer. His e-mail address is larryLTatkins@aol.com This article is copyrighted by Larry Atkins and originally published by opednews.com Permission is granted to forward this or to place it on a website or in print as long as the article is included intact, including this statement.