#2 This "safe haven" nonsense is actually a particularly stupid element of the generally clueless opposition argument to the US global offensive posture.
Let's see -- based on the 9/11 plot, I guess San Diego, New Jersey, and parts of Florida are "safe havens" for al-Qaida, too. Anywhere al-Qaida members draw breath, therefore, is a "safe haven".
This is absurd. Iraq is a place where the US has free reign with its conventional and unconventional forces, the support and cooperation of the national government, and the collaboration of increasing numbers of citizens who have problems with the national government. This is a "safe haven"? What would a hostile environment look like to al-Qaida?
This is a classic example of the upside-down thinking that holds that actually fighting the enemy in a war makes the enemy stronger, or somehow is responsible for the war's existence. The reductio ad absurdum of this illogical assertion -- which is obvious and arises nearly instantly -- would be that the best strategy for fighting the war is not fighting it. |
Al Qaida has employed Iraq as a safe haven for insurgency operations in Saudi Arabia. Islamic sources said Al Qaida has brought thousands of Saudi fighters to Iraq for training and eventual return in a military campaign against the kingdom. They said the operatives have been shuttling between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, bringing weapons, funding and orders for insurgency attacks in both countries. "The [Saudi] security forces have succeeded in making life difficult for them," Saudi opposition leader Saad Al Faqih said. "But this has been counterbalanced by the fact that Iraq is acting as an effective shelter for about 3,000 Saudis opposed to the government." Other analysts assert that as many as 2,500 Saudi nationals have entered Iraq since 2003 to fight the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. More than 350 Saudis were said to have been killed in the fighting.