Pop Quiz!

Greetings from Woodbridge, New Jersey!

Let's get right to it.

To me, how we have done in response to the attacks of September 11th, comes down to how we would answer these questions:

Yes or No Questions-

Was it worthwhile to oust Saddam Hussein?
Was it worth at least 1,000 American lives to do it?
Was it worth at least 13,000 Iraqi lives to do it?
Was it worth countless American and Iraqi injuries to do it?
Was it worth at least $140,000,000,000 to do it?
Was it worth letting Al Qaeda go unchecked?
Was it worth possibly letting North Korea get nuclear weapons?
Was it worth possibly letting Iran get nuclear weapons?
Was it worth a back-door draft?

Could it have been done with fewer lives lost?
Could it have been done with fewer injuries?
Could it have been done for less than $140,000,000,000?
Could it have been done after Al Qaeda was neutralized or weakened?
Could it have been done in a way that allowed us to monitor and maintain other threats?
Could it have been done without exhausting our active duty military and our reserves?
Would it be worth a real live draft?



Multiple Choice Questions-

Why are we fighting the war in Iraq?

a. Saddam Hussein attacked us on 9/11 and it's payback time.
b. Saddam was connected with Al Qaeda, and it's part of getting at Al Qaeda.
c. We're fighting terrorists there so we don't have to fight them here.
d. To get those Weapons of Mass Destruction.
e. Saddam was an imminent threat to the United States.
f. It's always been this: Saddam is bad, and we need to liberate Iraqis.
g. It's part of a larger neo-conservative strategy in the Middle-East.
h. Iraq was unstable and sitting on top of oodles of crude oil.
i. Saddam put a hit out on President George H.W. Bush (Bush I).
j. answers "a" through "f"
k. answers "g" and "h"
l. none of the above


Short of a full-scale, pre-emptive and nearly unilateral military action, we could have removed Saddan Hussein by:

a. Asking him to go.
b. Sanctions. More sanctions.
c. Building an international coalition and taking Saddam into custody - Milosevich style.
d. Using a tiger team or an assassin.
e. Premise is faulty: war is not unilateral (i.e. "coalition of the willing" is strong).
f. Premise is faulty: we didn't have to remove Saddam at all.
g. Premise is faulty: war was not preemptive, it was response to 9/11 attacks.
h. Premise is faulty: this is not a full-scale military action.
i. None of the above, war was the last resort.


True/False Questions (circle one)-

Saddam Hussein was involved in the attacks of 9/11. T or F
Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction and was primed to attack America. T or F
Iraq was an imminent threat to the United States. T or F
At the time the war began, Saddam was the worst dictator currently in power. T or F
At the time the war began, Iraq needed liberating more than any other country. T or F
Saddam Hussein was a threat to American homeland security. T or F
Osama Bin Laden was involved in the attacks of 9/11. T or F
Osama Bin Laden was the biggest threat to homeland security. T or F
Saddam and Osama were in cahoots. T or F
Because Saddam and Osama were in cahoots it makes sense to take out Saddam. T or F
If you could only apprehend either Saddam or Osama, Saddam's the one you want. T or F
Better to have nuclear weapons in North Korea than aluminum rods in Iraq. T or F
Even if Iran gets nuclear weapons, I still feel safe. T or F
There is no need to be concerned about relations between Taiwan and China. T or F
Our regard in the international community is not important. T or F
The budget deficit has nothing to do with the war in Iraq. T or F
We couldn't use $140,000,000,000 for anything else anyway. T or F
Freedom is on the march. T or F
Everything is under control in Iraq. T or F
Iraqi insurgents are getting weaker every day. T or F
Bush has a plan to win the peace. T or F
Bush had a plan to win the peace all along. T or F
States and cities have adequate funding for homeland security. T or F
The borders are safe. T or F
President Bush will keep me safe. T or F
Only President Bush will keep me safe. T or F
President Bush is a competent and visionary Commander in Chief. T or F
I would send a son or daughter overseas to liberate Iraqis. T or F
Everyone knows you shouldn't change horses in midstream. T or F
Mistakes were made. T or F
The mission was accomplished. T or F
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. T or F


This is all my way of saying that we are kidding ourselves. We've been sold a bill of goods. We've been hoodwinked; we've been led astray. I think most of us know it, and the fundamental difference is this: some of us don't want to admit it. Some of us don't like what it says about us as Americans and about us as America if we acknowledge the awful truths.

We did not go to war as a last result.
We did not go to war in response to the attacks of 9/11.
Iraq was not an imminent threat to us.
There are no Weapons of Mass Destruction.
War in Iraq is not the same thing as the war on terror that we should be fighting.
Our safety is an illusion - a color-coded punchline to the worst joke ever told.
We are jeopardized by incompetent leadership.
The world is less stable and less safe than it was on September 10th, 2001.
We are fiddling while Rome burns.

I'll close with a quote from President George H.W. Bush, a competent and (as it seems) visionary leader:

Extending the war into Iraq would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. The coalition would instantly have collapsed, the Arabs deserting in anger and other allies pulling out as well. Exceeding the U.N.'s mandate would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the U.S. could still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land.

Time magazine, 1998