Foreign Policy

The Gang That Can’t Shoot Straight

Oops, we invaded the wrong country!

Four years later, we know all about the intelligence on Iraq we DIDN’T have, prior to our invasion in March 2003. Now we’re learning about the intelligence we DID have on neighboring Syria at the same time.

And guess which country was clearly developing nuclear power — and perhaps even working on nuclear weapons? Not Iraq, but Syria. Not the country we DID invade, but the country we did NOT. Bush and company are not only the gang that can’t shoot straight, they’re the gang that can’t even pick the right target.

No wonder President Bush steadfastly refuses to answer any questions about Israel’s recent air attack on a Syrian nuclear installation. As reported in Saturday’s New York Times, recently released satellite photos show that construction of the plant actually began as early as 2001. Privately, Bush administration officials admit: They knew all about it at the time, but did nothing.

In other words, Bush is even more dangerous than we thought. He not only marched us into war in Iraq based on what he knew was questionable intelligence about Saddam Hussein’s alleged nuclear program. He also ignored certain intelligence about Bashar al-Assad’s very real nuclear program, under way right next door.

This latest intelligence on Syria is one more damning piece of evidence that George Bush’s war in Iraq is the wrong war, at the wrong time, in the wrong place.

Oops, we invaded the wrong country. And we’ll be paying the price for a long time.