Gary:
Of course it is relevant. When you decide to accept information that is deliberately not backed up by any sources and has to be taken solely on faith, you had better be sure there isnt an alterior motive involved.
This is true not only in the case of Debka, but also in the case of the Bush administration.
How often have we seen wild claims on this board responded to by “cite, please?”
Oil.
Americans don’t want to pay $2 for a gallon of gas. Driving an SUV means more than human lives in another country with a different language.
BTW, according to Reuters today, China, Canada, Germany, France, and Russia are officially opposed to any military action in Iraq right now. Pretty significant statement if you ask me.
regnad:
I understand and agree. However, the particular aspect I’m focusing on is that IF these items reported by Debka later turn out to be verified facts–which I understand to often be the case from the radio feature I heard–then those facts would help answer the OP.
Having just recently been made aware of Debka, I’ll be interested to see if we do indeed hear confirmation of these particular items
sometime in the near future.
September 11th was carried out by Al-Queda. Iraq is a self-declared supporter of terrorism and self-declared enemy of the US. Before 9/11 it was mostly just rhetoric. 9/11 made it real. Iraq was a contributing factor in carrying out 9/11 and will continue to finance and abide terrorist actions against the US unless we stop them. So we are going to stop them.
What’s not to understand?
Saddam Hussein has a history of cracking down against fundamentalist extremism in his OWN country. His regime is by and large a secular one. The terrorism he supports is in Israel.
The only reason he could possibly have to support al Qaeda is because “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” (an ill-advised attitude that, by the way, made Iraq OUR ally during the Reagan presidency, as well as the extremists in Afghanistan).
Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein are not pals. Islamic fundamentalists do not support Saddam Hussein’s regime.
“Iraq was a contributing factor in carrying out 9/11”
link, please?
How exactly is this about oil?
As it stands right now, Iraq needs to sell its oil - it doesn’t exactly have a lot of other resources to. They just signed an agreement to sell billions of dollars worth to Russia. This means that Russia will buy less oil from, say, Saudi Arabia, lowering the price there due to lower demand.
So how would invading Iraq lower the price of oil?
I don’t have to read it on the Drudge Report to know that Iraqi money makes its way to Al-Queda, any more than I need proof that Iraq is still trying to build and/or aquire a nuclear weapon. Its just common sense.
Is that the important qualifier, Hail Ants?
Why arent we invading our close ally Saudi Arabia, then?
Bin Laden, almost all of the hijackers, and the vast majority of al Qaeda’s contributers are Saudis.
Obviously, if related to 9/11, this impending war is so only indirectly – insofar as 1) many Americans (such as Hail Ants) labor under the misconception that Iraq was behind 9/11, whom Bush has done nothing to dissuade, and 2) it gives Bush political momentum to act as he wants while wrapping those actions in the flag.
I don’t think so. If it was just about oil, the Allies would have steamrolled through Iraq in 91 when all the equipment, manpower and international support was already there.
My .02
Here’s what a US paper with a similar reputation for occasional truths has to say about Saddam. Could it be true ? Did North Korea really ship its uranium enrichment facilities to Iran like Debka says ? Is it worth your time trying to figure that out ?
Because Saudi Arabia is our ally. Enough so that the actions of their citizens on 9/11 strained our relations, but not to the point of going to war. If SA wasn’t an ally we probably would be going to war with them unless they proved that 9/11 was a totally independent act with no official support.
If Iraq was not at all ‘behind’ 9/11 or any other terrorist acts against the US & its allies then the burden is on them to prove it. To think otherwise shows either ignorance or cowardice.
There is no doubt in my mind that Hussein supports terrorists in Israel. So do a lot of other Arab countries whom we are not threatening.
Those involved in 9/11 were not supported by Hussein, or if they were there is no evidence to suggest it. I dont believe Bush has ever said they were.
It is not Husseins job to prove that he DIDNT support them, but our job (or somebody’s) to prove he DID.
If your wallet is stolen, Hail, and you point the finger at me, its YOUR job to prove I did it, not the other way around. I may be a slimy character with a bad track record, but that proves nothing.
Debka posts items with little fact checking. This means that they can beat “reputable” publications to a story, but it also means that they post large numbers of stories that turn out to be not true. They also don’t do retractions.
So, what you’ve got is a large number of facts, some of which are true, some of which are slight inaccurate, and some of which are just completely wrong.
Its the Drudge Report of the middle east really.
Sort of like Nostradamus actually.
Before September 11th I would agree with you. But after, I no longer feel terrorist supporting regimes deserve even the slightest benefit of doubt. They are guilty until proven innocent.
…well, this seems to be a train wreck of a General Question. 
To find out a bit about the history of Iraq, go here:
Some other links that may be help are here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/iraq/29099.stm
This report from 1998
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/iraq/52796.stm
…I use BBC because that is my prefered source of unbiased news stories-yes I know somepeople have issues with the BBC, but I don’t . There are some extremely knowledgeable people on the Straightdope who would be able to answer your question better than I can, (and some of them haven’t posted here yet) but as this subject is so emotional, the answers you get from here may have a particular slant, as evidenced above. It may be an idea to have a good surf of the net-particularly to sites that you personally trust, to get the information that you seek.
Sorry.
I just wanted to make it clear that 9/11 is not directly the reason for this invasion. 9/11 may have facilitated or expedited it, but it was in the works before 9/11.
Hail Ants:
Not to troll, but we support terroist groups also. Seems like everyone does anymore.
Yeah…I was sort of hoping to avoid that, but I was also afraid it was inevitable.
Thanks for the info and links y’all - it does help me a lot.