PERMISSIVE ENVIRONMENTS….Bizarrely, Glenn Reynolds links approvingly to this Guardian piece:
Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein did let al-Qaida operate out of Iraq, Downing Street insisted today.
….No 10 said it was not claiming a direct link but a spokeswoman said: “The prime minister has always said Saddam created a permissive environment for terrorism and we know that the people affiliated to al-Qaida operated in Iraq during the regime.”
That’s it? A “permissive environment”? He makes it sound like Saddam was just reading a little too much Dr. Spock. Is there a single country in the entire Middle East that doesn’t have a “permissive environment” for terrorism?
And are war supporters really so desperate that they take stuff like this as support for their views? I wonder how laughable the evidence would have to be before they’d concede it was kind of iffy?
On the other hand, at least Tony Blair has the decency to be too embarrassed to stretch things any further than this. The Vice President of the United States, on the other hand, apparently thinks Blair is a wimp. Damn the torpedos!
