The brick wall approach

The Prez:

Some have also argued that extremism has been strengthened by the actions of our coalition in Iraq, claiming that our presence in that country has somehow caused or triggered the rage of radicals. I would remind them that we were not in Iraq on September the 11th, 2001 -- and al Qaeda attacked us anyway.

But Al Qaeda wasn't - Iraq didn't -

Running into this brick wall hurts my head.

And is the President really suggesting that had we gone to war in Iraq sooner that the World Trade Center would still be standing? That would be the logical end to what he says here, right?

Neat how the President tries to refute one truth with two others that are completely unrelated, isn't it? He's right on three counts: 1) There are more radicals worldwide because of our actions in Iraq. 2) We were not in Iraq on Sept 11th. 3) Al Qaeda attacked us. But these facts aren't really linked in the way the President wants us to believe.

In fact, they aren't really linked at all. Radicals existed before Iraq, but the President's own people admit that we've created even more radicals because of our actions there. And until the President understands and agrees with this, I fear we will be stuck in Iraq for a long, long time.