corrente

Some troll over on Atrios last night was trying to pimp the spin that the Russian schoolhouse terrorist atrocity proved that we were right to be fighting in Iraq. (Yeah, try to wrap your mind around that one. It's a little early in the day for drink so we suggest deep breathing, meditation or aspirin for the exploding-head problem.)

Hecate had a comeback I just loved.

(via Atrios' comment thread)

The troll sez:

I would rather our armed, trained 20 somethings be fighting in Iraq, than what has happened in Breslan

To which Hecate replies:

~sigh~

Look, this is sloppy thinking. It's like saying I'd rather clean my bathroom than have cat hair all over my clothes. Or I'd rather get my car serviced today than deal with a broken washing machine next week. Just like cleaning my bathroom won't have any effect on whether or not I've got cat hair on my black blazer, killing Iraquis won't prevent the sort of terrorism that just occurred in Russia.

I live in Arlington County, VA. We were declared a disaser area after 9/11. Those attacks were carried out by al Queda -- whom we've helped make stronger -- and by Osama bin Laden -- whom Bush is no longer interested in catching. The attacks weren't carried out by Iraq. So attacking Iraq won't prevent terrorist attacks any more than getting my car serviced will prevent my washing machine from breaking down.

In fact, our tactics in Iraq, including torturing people in Abu Garaib (sp?) have recruited additional terrorists. Russia has tried to deal with the Chechnyans the way we've tried to deal with Iraq. And, you know, it doesn't seem to be working too well for them.

I doubt that we can ever be completely safe from terrorists. But we'd be a lot safer if our poorly-armed, untrained, twenty-somethings weren't over in Iraq.

Here's what we need to thump on: The Bushco tactic of conflating the "war on Terra" with the war in Iraq is deranged. It makes no sense. To try to argue against it by means of reason and logic is to fail because it is not based on reason or logic, or indeed facts on the ground as innumerable sources have proved by now.

So fight terrorism by shaving your cat, and prevent suicide bombers by getting your oil changed. It makes as much sense as what Bush and Putin are doing, and causes a great deal less harm. And, of course, mention this to as many Bush fans as you can. They'll say "That's nuts!" at which point you can smile broadly and say "It sure is!"