Soldier: Defense of Bush doesn’t work

http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=47402

Defense of Bush doesn’t work

The writer of “Bush isn’t to blame” (letter, June 27) wrote in response to another letter that “our soldiers are suffering not because of President Bush’s decisions, but rather because of attacks by radical Islamists using equipment supplied by groups like al-Qaida and Hamas, or nations like Iran and Syria.”

Al-Qaida had no presence in Iraq before we invaded. Hamas was based in the Gaza Strip and Palestine before our invasion. Where’s the disconnect for the author in recognizing our actions and their consequences in regard to the lack of stability we have fomented, allowing for such terrorist groups to gain footholds all over the nation, and beyond?

He continues with a straw-man argument, acknowledging that Saddam Hussein didn’t possess weapons of mass destruction prior to invasion, and immediately afterward saying “but Saddam did possess WMDs, he used them on his own people” — which had nothing to do with our invasion in 2003. He asserts that the reason why we invaded was not because of the weapons of mass destruction possibility, but rather because of Saddam’s violation of U.N. resolutions. Then the United Nations should have invaded! In the eyes of much of the world, the U.S. has overstepped its bounds, negatively affecting our international credibility substantially.

He then says, “‘Liberals’’ tendency to ignore inconvenient facts in logical arguments in favor of attacking the character of those who disagree with them highlights their motives and tenuous political stance far more than any words of the ‘closed-minded conservatives.’” Note the irony: He used a blanket ad hominem insult to cover all liberals; attaching a negative connotation to a person/group in order to nullify its position is a logical fallacy in itself.

Spc. Benjamin Chambers
Logistics Support Area Anaconda, Iraq