“Recruitment” – Will an Iraq

“Recruitment” – Will an Iraq war make our al-Qaida problem worse? Not likely. By Christopher Hitchens

There is a parody of the old Uncle Sam “I Want YOU” recruiting poster in circulation. It shows Osama Bin Laden in the Uncle Sam finger-pointing pose, proclaiming that he wants us to invade Iraq and thus generate massive infusions of young and eager talent to his ranks. In different verbal and cartoon forms, this thought has become part of the standard repertoire of those who take the regime-preservation or regime-prolongation view of Iraq.

Before examining the argument—if it is an argument—one might observe that these are often the same people who scoff at any connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida, and who furthermore are the most critical of the war on al-Qaida and the Taliban. So, it might be noted that for this purpose at least, they take as a given what they otherwise doubt.

Now why didn’t I think of that! Oh, wait…