Bad men

Thugs and police

Bad men need each other

"Stevenson believes U.S. President George W. Bush's administration knew full well the war would initially increase support for Al Qaeda. But U.S. officials estimated the long-term impact of setting up a democratic government in Iraq would outweigh the short-term pain of more terror attacks, he said.... "Other experts, however, believe that the U.S., and those European countries that supported the war, badly miscalculated."

— from The Toronto Star, 20 May 2003. ["Stevenson" is Jonathan Stevenson, senior fellow for counter-terrorism at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies.]

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There's a third possibility. That is, that the Bush administration knew that the war would increase support for Al Qaeda. Full stop.

While I don't question Bush's general idiocy, I think he must be given credit for true malevolence. At the least, he's been a willing dupe for people of ill intent. And there seems to be no shortage of those in the current U.S. administration.

Thugs within a crowd at a demonstration need baton-happy riot police, because that's what makes it a riot. Bad cops need the thugs so they can start the beating. Al-Qaeda and the Bush administration need each other.

Or, as from the same article: "'The U.S.-led invasion, at least in the short term, drew more people toward Osama bin Laden's vision of a global clash between Islam and the West,' Stevenson said yesterday."

Christian hawks want that too.

— 24 May 2003

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