Again last night, Bush made this a central argument the reasons to stay the course in Iraq; we are fighting them there so we don't have to fight them here. Many, many, Americans who have already seen through the other misleadings on Iraq are still convinced by this logic.
Let us leave aside the logical flaws contained in it; that these insurgents were not terrorists before, that they wouldn't even be fighting if we weren't there, and that there is not some finite number of terrorists that if we can just kill, they'll all be gone.
Let us accept instead that his highly suspect 'flypaper' theory is true - that we are attracting to Iraq people who would otherwise be planning terror missions to our own shores.
In that case the argument changes from being deeply illogical to deeply immoral.
What right do we have to attract thousands of murderous terrorists to a country that is desperately trying to emerge from a devastating decade of war, sanctions, and invasions?
What right do we have to create a magnet in Iraq for those who wish to kill innocent people, laying waste a country that never has done us harm?
This is the most cowardly, immoral, and disgusting argument for the war I have yet encountered, and yet not a single voice in the media has said so.