Poll: did the invasion of Iraq increase or de-crease the terror threat?

I just read an article in USA Today concerning a poll that was taken on whether or not people feel safer from the threat of terrorism since our invasion of Iraq. Most say they do not feel safer.

Personally, my view before the invasion was, to assume that Iraq had anything to do with terrorism (Al Qaeda) was ridiculous in the extreme and terribly naive. As we have seen, the invasion only opened pandora's box, unleashing God knows how many criminals and terrorists into and upon the Iraqi population.

What is your opinion, ATS?

To view the article:

Poll: More people don't believe Iraq war reduced terror threat
WASHINGTON (AP) � A growing number of Americans, seven in 10, doesn't think the war in Iraq has reduced the threat of terrorism, according to a poll out Wednesday.
www.usatoday.com...

I think that it's pretty clear to see that the invasion of Iraq has increased the threat of terrorism against The U.S.A and the U.K. The war has caused more people to hate The allies thus more people will be willing to attack. Saddam never had anything to with this 'internation terrorist threat' that there apparently is. Thats Bull#. This war has made things worse than they were becuse it has highlighted the real reasons for Bush's supposed "war on terrorism"

I think the true goal of the NEO CONS is to foment perpetual war. What better way than to take a big stick and shove it straight into the hornet's nest that is Iraq today. Talk about fomenting hatred! You're right EARTHTONE - they just multiplied our enemies one hundred-fold - and who can now blame them for despising our government? Their motives are stunningly transparent. OIL, OIL, OIL. But then again, when you're talking about Cheney - a man I once admired - Rumsfeld - the devil himself - and Wolfowitz - a complete ****** traitor, not to mention IDIOT - These guys don't care what you and I think. To them, we are just worthless sheep. All we are worth to them is SLAVE LABOR and BODIES TO SHIP OFF TO IRAQ!

[Edited on 4-12-2003 by Thomas Crowne]

Iraq is now a lightning rod to all those groups who oppose the U.S. Surely the U.S. administration knew that this would happen and is using Iraq to draw them in and clean them out. Problem is, you probably couldn't fit 10% of them in Iraq there are so many now...

In the short term it has made the chances of terrorism against America more prevelant. But sometimes you have to take a step backwards before you can take two steps forward.

In the long run though , this gives us a staging ground to advance this war on terror and gives us an important ally for making the once stone-aged middle east a place were almost everyone can live above the poverty level.

So for now, we are kinda screwed.

In the long run, it decreases terror threats.

Restricting my commentary to US mainland soil:

The invasion of Iraq has done nothing to the real level of terrorist "threat".

Both "terrorism" and "threat" are abstract nouns that are near meaningless until we all carry around exactly the same concept in our heads as to what these terms connote.

But the real impact has been on the Bush admin's capacity to use manipulation and disinformation to raise the level of all sorts of perceived "threats". The vast majority of them remain nothing but bu#.

There is no basis for trust in the current admin at all, there never has been nor will there ever be.

Your personal mood meter is probably your best gauge as to how threatened you are, not the actions of the imbeciles around the top end of this Whitehouse.

Originally posted by dexxy
Iraq is now a lightning rod to all those groups who oppose the U.S. Surely the U.S. administration knew that this would happen and is using Iraq to draw them in and clean them out. Problem is, you probably couldn't fit 10% of them in Iraq there are so many now...

We do not have enough troops in Iraq to even begin to handle Iraq's anti-American fighters, let alone foreign terrorists that might go join the fight.

Here's some BU# strategery:
Tell everyone the terr'ists are all gathering in Iraq, get everyone up in arms and focused on that, and then BLAMMO! We get blinde-sided by an attack on the US mainland.. just in time for the '04 presidential election. Wouldn't that be convenient for Bush, who is losing ground faster than he can choke on a pretzel? Compliments of Osama, er I mean, Saddam, of course.

Originally posted by EastCoastKid

Originally posted by dexxy
Iraq is now a lightning rod to all those groups who oppose the U.S. Surely the U.S. administration knew that this would happen and is using Iraq to draw them in and clean them out. Problem is, you probably couldn't fit 10% of them in Iraq there are so many now...

We do not have enough troops in Iraq to even begin to handle Iraq's anti-American fighters, let alone foreign terrorists that might go join the fight.

Here's some BU# strategery:
Tell everyone the terr'ists are all gathering in Iraq, get everyone up in arms and focused on that, and then BLAMMO! We get blinde-sided by an attack on the US mainland.. just in time for the '04 presidential election. Wouldn't that be convenient for Bush, who is losing ground faster than he can choke on a pretzel? Compliments of Osama, er I mean, Saddam, of course.

Personally,I think if we keep training Iraqi police, soldiers and so forth we will be better off than having more American forces police the state and look for these criminals. Again this is just my theory.

I think your views are naive in their attempt to create a catch-22.

If we continue to be Israel's ally we increase the threat of terrorism.

If we investigate the origins of the 9/11 attack we increase the threat of terrorism.

If we refuse to coddle N. Korea, we increase the threat of terrorism.

Yes, the invasion of any mid-eastern, Muslim country increases the threat of terrorism.

Guess what, if we did none of the above, and did nothing but continue to prosper as a nation that is not predominantly Muslim, and operates off capitalism and democracy...

we would increase the threat of terrorism.

Personally,I think if we keep training Iraqi police, soldiers and so forth we will be better off than having more American forces police the state and look for these criminals. Again this is just my theory.

Was this not the problem to begin with, Americans training the now Terrorists we see.
But in a way I do agree with you, They need to be educated.
India though maybe not the best comparison, Police force is an utter joke, corrupution rules the country, as does Iraq.
America needs to stamp out corruption and establish authority.
Deep

Ignoring the hypothetical "American is evil and anything they do is wrong" themes of some of the posts above, let's look at a couple things.

Again, earthtomne, you are motivated by politics, liberal conspiracy theories and devoid of facts. As a matter of fact, your post flies in the face of facts. Hussein's link to terrorism wasestablished before the 9/11 attack, and his links to Al Quada were made by intel sources outside of U.S. control.

The terrorists and those who support them understand and respect power, and loathe weakness. This should not be news to any except those who perpetuate lies and ignore truth. To sit back and do nothing would only invite and provoke more attacks.

Really, the left wing's great Vast Rightwing Conspiracy crap without anything of substance to even attempt to lend credence gets really old. At least begin such statements with "I believe it could possibly be that..." in order to save your own dignity.

Originally posted by Dreamz
In the long run though , this gives us a staging ground to advance this war on terror and gives us an important ally for making the once stone-aged middle east a place were almost everyone can live above the poverty level.

Statemants like this show a complete lack of understanding of terrorism. You cannot fight terrorism by attacking countries. Anybody who thinks so, needs to pull their head out of their ass. The US seems to have, not only an arrogance, but a severe ignorance of terrorism. You could nuke both Afghanistan and Iraq, and guess what! You'd have more terrorist after you than you did before. Just as the US had no clue about the new and dirty combat tactics of the Veitcong, they have no clue about terrorism. Their constant bungling mistakes are going to make us alot more enemies than friends.

It's kind of like when you discover your wallet has been stolen, but you have no idea who could've done it. Will you go back to the mall and start shooting people until someone confesses?

[Edited on 12-4-2003 by Satyr]

Originally posted by Satyr

Originally posted by Dreamz
In the long run though , this gives us a staging ground to advance this war on terror and gives us an important ally for making the once stone-aged middle east a place were almost everyone can live above the poverty level.

Statemants like this show a complete lack of understanding of terrorism. You cannot fight terrorism by attacking countries. Anybody who thinks so, needs to pull their head out of their ass. The US seems to have, not only an arrogance, but a severe ignorance of terrorism. You could nuke both Afghanistan and Iraq, and guess what! You'd have more terrorist after you than you did before. Just as the US had no clue about the new and dirty combat tactics of the Veitcong, they have no clue about terrorism. Their constant bungling mistakes are going to make us alot more enemies than friends.

It's kind of like when you discover your wallet has been stolen, but you have no idea who could've done it. Will you go back to the mall and start shooting people until someone confesses?

[Edited on 12-4-2003 by Satyr]

Whats the lack of understanding. I never said this was the reason why we attacked Iraq.

I simply said, that it is a good staging ground....Meaning, we can create a network of connections through Arab people that can hopefully infiltrate certain terrorist entities and supply us with better intel.

I also said this wouldnt happen overnight, I said in the LONG RUN.

You don't think having more Arabs joining in and helping out our intel will be beneficial to the war on terror???

The closer we are to the problem, the quicker it can be identified....

[Edited on 4-12-2003 by Dreamz]

Originally posted by Thomas Crowne
Hussein's link to terrorism wasestablished before the 9/11 attack, and his links to Al Quada were made by intel sources outside of U.S. control.

Boy, Thomas Crowne, you've really bought it hook, line and sinker, like a good soldier. I bet they love you. There is no proof whatsoever that Iraq had anything - ANYTHING - to do with the attacks of 9-11. Who you been reading? The New York Times' Judith Miller? What a fukken joke. Again, the only "proof" that was found came out of Rumsfeld's Office of Special Plans. Pure T BU#. That is PROVEN.

Oh yeah, your "other intel source" wouldn't by chance be uh, Israel, now would it?

[Edited on 19-09-2003 by EastCoastKid]

I believe that it reduced the terror threat. If not, it at least focused the problem somewhere else.

ECK mentioned:
"Oh yeah, your "other intel source" wouldn't by chance be uh, Israel, now would it"

No ECK, not solely Mossad, Spain, France, Germany, Australia, UK, Saudi- what little came out there, Kuwait, Sudan, Italy, Turkey, and even what little came out of Turkey, and from Iraqi's themsleves...


regards
seekerof

[Edited on 5-12-2003 by Seekerof]

Originally posted by Dreamz
Whats the lack of understanding. I never said this was the reason why we attacked Iraq.

I simply said, that it is a good staging ground....Meaning, we can create a network of connections through Arab people that can hopefully infiltrate certain terrorist entities and supply us with better intel.

I also said this wouldnt happen overnight, I said in the LONG RUN.

You don't think having more Arabs joining in and helping out our intel will be beneficial to the war on terror???

The closer we are to the problem, the quicker it can be identified....

[Edited on 4-12-2003 by Dreamz]

I thought you were implying that what we've done so far has had some effect. It's had absolutely no effect, IMO. I don't think we're making any new friends.

Iraq is like kicking over a bee's nest.

When you do that the bees get pissed and come after you.

if you just leave the bees alone sooner or later they sting you anyways if you are ever in the way of what they want. Don't dare swat any of them or you can fear retribution from the whole hive.

I cannot understand the mind of the appeasor? Are they so afraid of conflict or being hurt or dying or stress that they would let their enemy setup beside them and prepare to destroy them without lifting so much as a hand in protest. Then they would criticize anyone that would stand up to fight to save them.

If anyone doubts that communism and unrepetant socialism with Islam and other faiths is not a long-term threat to the western way of life then just look at events in history.

Yes it is unfair that there is conflict and winners and losers and yes it is unfair that eveyone cannot have what they want. But grow UP! The reason that everyone cannot have what they want is exactly that reason, everyone cannot have what they want. That is the issue.

Originally posted by EastCoastKid

Originally posted by Thomas Crowne
Hussein's link to terrorism wasestablished before the 9/11 attack, and his links to Al Quada were made by intel sources outside of U.S. control.

Boy, Thomas Crowne, you've really bought it hook, line and sinker, like a good soldier. I bet they love you. There is no proof whatsoever that Iraq had anything - ANYTHING - to do with the attacks of 9-11. Who you been reading? The New York Times' Judith Miller?

What a fukken joke. Again, the only "proof" that was found came out of Rumsfeld's Office of Special Plans. Pure T BU#. That is PROVEN.

Oh yeah, your "other intel source" wouldn't by chance be uh, Israel, now would it?

That's exactly what I was thinking when I read that quote. I thought I'd let someone else explain it to him, though.

Poll Vote: No,...I do not feel safer, in fact the opposite.

It reminds me of the effect of; live-tv, copter-cams, cop shows, real-tv,...has had on the psychi of society. All of those media accomplishments, puts the statistically 'average' criminal activity in the front-and-center, and in your face with more frequency. Potentially, you would then agree in time, that crime has increased biased by your media exposure, and the need for additional protection also, and would not mind that implementation into the system of stronger controls.

And I keep getting that feeling about the war on terrorism every now and then similarly,
when something in the news sometimes just doesnt make sense or fit in properly.


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