WMD

Holy cow, they found WMD in Iraq.

I agree with Prof. Reynolds that WMD was never high on my list of reasons for freeing Iraq. At the same time I never doubted that they existed. I always thought everyone jumped too quickly to the conclusion that since we didn't find them in the middle of the road into Baghdad they weren't there. Iraq is a big country. Why anyone thought it could have been thoroughly searched in the midst of war just wasn't thinking clearly or honestly.

I'm glad they found them so maybe people will shut up about them now. I always thought there were more important reasons for the invasion -

• Saddam was evil
• He was violating UN sanctions
• He was a supporter of terrorists
• He wanted to kill all the Kurds (and yes I think we should be doing something more in Darfur, too)
  

Mainly, though, I think it's vital to the war on terror that we work to change the culture in which islamic terrorism flourishes. A free, democratic Iraq will flourish and serve as a constant reminder to the rest of the Middle East that such a system can work. The people of Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Iran will find it hard to blame anyone but their own governments and religious leaders for the state of their countries and their lives.

It won't be easy, but it needs to be done. Chasing down individual terrorists and blowing them up may be fun and rewarding, but ultimately this is a cultural war. For the moment I'm taking the word of everyone who says it's not a religious war, who says Islam is a religion of peace and the jihadists are extremists not unlike some white supremecist groups in the US. For the moment.

To truly win this war we have to change the cultures that are attacking us.