At what point, exactly, did the US divert from the pursuit of Bin Laden to pursue Saddam?

Question

It is a great mystery to me that if someone declares war on your country it's basic common sense to go after those people and not someone else just because he's a "bad man." There are an awful lot of unanswered questions about the US motives in the Middle East and they don't smell too right.....................!!

Answer 1

When the US Government invaded Iraq , made Al Qaeda stronger , gave them something to rally around and a reason for more recruits to joine with them .

Answer 2

We are still looking for Bin-laden but we know wherever he is he is on the run, which means we rendered him weaker if not completely incapacitated. Second, it was no so much Saddam Hussien we wanted but the geographical location of Iraq itself. If you were to picture the MIddle East as a giant tic tak toe grid. You have turkey to the NOrth (basically not a problem country), Saudi Arabia to the South (mixed, some terror cells but a government that has alot of $ invested in US). To one side we have Iran who BLATENTLY says they are pursuing nuclear weapons and plans to use them. And the other side we have Syria who also has very "out in the open" terrorist ties. By having a presense in Iraq, we can go into Saudi Arabia, Iran, or Syria from "right next door" and also keep Syria and Iran from passing weapons, money, or people back and forth as easily as they could have before. Stop looking at Saddam and look at the MAP. Every other problem nation has either a US base, or an ally right next to it. N. Korea - we're in South Korea. Pakistan? We have diplomatic relations with India. Before we got there 3 "renegade" nations had a geographic bloc and a US base or Ally was too far way to have an effective immediate strike. With us in Iraq, the terrorists are a little more blocked in. Thats all it is, you cant stop them altogether but you CAN make their jobs a heckuva lot harder.

Answer 3

Around the time of the beginning of operation Anaconda in March 2003 the DOD withheld forces to save them for the upcoming invasion of Iraq. This allowed many Taliban and Al Quada to escape (and probably Bin laden). So you can pretty much date from the period when Bin Laden became low priority and Saddam Hussein became enemy number 1.
Whether you think this was the right decision or not is up to you. I am inclined to think the Bush admin F'ed up.

Answer 4

We really have not. Our actions in Iraq have not affected our force levels in Afghanistan one bit.

Besides - with the exception of a Clinton-style event that makes headlines but has no real lasting impact - exactly what good would capturing Bin Laden do from a geo-strategic standpoint?

Bin Laden has been neutralized. He has been reduced to hiding in a cave in one of the most remote places on earth. Eventually he will either make a mistake or we will get lucky and his existence will be ended.

Besides - our de-emphasis of Bin Laden serves our strategic interests because it marginalizes him in the eyes of his potential supporters.

Answer 5

First we went after Bin Laden by overthrowing the Taliban, and we're still there after him now. It was later when we used Saddam as an excuse to open up a front in Iraq for would be terrorists to come and fight us in Iraq, rather than have them come to America and set off bombs here. Nobody in the Bush administration will admit to this, but when you stop and think about it, its not a bad idea (unless you live in Iraq). How many of the insurgents that we have killed in Iraq fairly easily might have come to the states to commit terrorist acts? No one knows, but even if it was only a few, it was worth it. Saddam's capture was just a pretense for military action IMO.

Answer 6

i think of this is the kind of factor that the infamous Rev. Wright replace into ranting approximately in his sermons. in case you hear to the excellent sermon, he comments on issues like how we funded Bin encumbered, left him unbelievable and now Bin encumbered is out for revenge in any respect expenses. lower back, he soured his message to a pair volume with the help of making an exceedingly politically charged statements with some un American sentiment yet he replace into suited while he suggested that the failings we've performed and our regulations international, rather in the middle east is coming lower back to hang-out us.

Answer 7

Baloney! or as the Italians might say it: Bologna!
The premise of your question is wrong. The US immediately went after Bin Laden and continue, to this day, to locate him and take him out. He is better at hiding than was Hussein.

Answer 8

When Bin Laden was killed at Tora Bora.

Answer 9

March 20, 2003 exactly 4 years ago.

Answer 10

At the point that George Bush became war happy.