Progressive Democrat Issue 126: FROM IRAQ TO IRAN: Bad Intelligence!

Remember when Bush told us that Saddam Hussein was linked to al-Qaeda? Well I was one of those informed voices who was saying way back then that was impossible. Hussein, a secularist who spent a fair amount of time torturing and oppressing the religious extremists of Iraq, and the religious extremists of al-Qaeda who spent a fair amount of time killing and oppressing secularists, had nothing in common. I spoke out as much as possible saying that Bush was lying. And, in the end, the only link between Iraq and al-Qaeda was al-Qaeda support for one of the anti-Hussein Kurdish groups. Bush lied to get us into a war we never should have been in and look where it has taken us. Let's never forget that. Each and every soldier who has died in Iraq has died because Bush lied and our government, Democrats and Republicans, were too ignorant of Muslim realities to recognize this very blatant lie.

Well, it's happening again as Bush is trying to expand the war into Iran. The very same lies are being repeated.

This comes from Guysen Israel News (via email):

The American Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns has said that Iran was transferring arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan. He added that talks regarding new sanctions against Tehran would start in the UN in a few weeks. (Guysen.Israכl.News)

No. Iran is NOT transferring arms to the Taliban. The Taliban is a group of Sunni fanatics linked to al-Qaeda who have spent a great deal of time oppressing and killing Shi'ites in Afghanistan. Iran is a Shi'a theocracy that would love to see the Shi'a of Afghanistan independent of the Sunnis of Afghanistan, including the Taliban. Iran HATED the Taliban back when America didn't care about the oppression going on in Afghanistan. Iran was accused of (and probably WERE) aiding the rebels against the Taliban way back in 1996. In 1997, while our good friends, the House of Saud, were AIDING the Taliban, Iran was accused, along with Russia and France (yes...France) of aiding the opposition in Afghanistan. In 1998, Iranian diplomats were killed by Taliban forces. As Iran threatened the Taliban, the United States urged restraint. After 9/11 I felt that one of our best strategies would have been to work with Iran to fight al-Qaeda and the Taliban because if there is one nation on earth that hates al-Qaeda as much as America it is Iran. Instead Bush has done his best to prove correct the accusations that America is conducting a crusade against all Islam by picking fights with the most prominent secularist (Saddam Hussein), the most prominent Shi'a extremists (Iran) and the most prominent Sunni extremists (al-Qaeda and the Taliban), all of whom hate eachother as much as they hate America.

And while Bush wants us to believe Sunni extremists and Shi'a Iran will happily team up with Iran arming the Sunni extremists, back in Iraq one of the holiest Shi'a shrines has been bombed again. The last time this happened was in 2006 and that bombing was linked to an al-Qaeda linked Sunni group that has come into prominence since America toppled the seculraist government of Iraq.

We have created a situation of civil war between Shi'a and Sunni extremists. There is no way in hell Shi'a Iran will be arming a group of Sunni extremists because those Sunni extremists will turn those arms against Shi'a. Iran is not that stupid!

And just in case anyone still wanted to believe that, against all reason, Iran was arming the Taliban, the head of NATO forces in Afghanistan has firmly denied the allegation.

Bush is lying again. Iran may be an oppressive theocracy that is stupidly denying the Holocaust and threatening Israel with destruction, but THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL THAT THEY ARE WORKING WITH THE TALIBAN. Anyone with any knowledge of the Muslim world knows that a link between Iran and the Taliban makes about as much sense as a link between Hussein and al-Qaeda. No sense at all.

Wake up America. Bush is lying to you to get us into ANOTHER war we have no business being involved in. Are you going to blindly follow again?

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