Dick Cheney has repeatedly stated that there's a link between the Iraq war and the events of 9/11. Perhaps they are linked... but not in the way suggested.

Al Qaeda knew it could never win a traditional head-to-head war against the U.S. military, so it didn't try. For decades it studied past wars and concluded that America would lose to an extremely long, drawn out conflict that involved a poorly defined enemy employing guerilla warfare tactics (Bin Laden has stated this explicitly).

So the Al Qaeda military strategy was simple and, unfortunately, smart:

(a) provoke America
(b) draw America into unwinnable war(s) that would drain resources.

The first part was 9/11. Al Qaeda sent in about 20 guys, and killed almost 3,000 Americans. We lost this fight, clearly.

It's curious who Bush seized on this opportunity and gained great popularity, when in reality, his newly hired administration was asleep at the switch.

Walking right into the trap, the administration's response was to attack other countries, in a poorly thought out fasion. First Afghanistan, then Iraq. Attacking another country to install a democracy (to one's liking) doesn't really make sense, but I won't go into that.

Just looking at the numbers in Iraq, the U.S. has lost over 3,000 American soldiers -- get this -- to capture about 50 guys? This is the same situation as 9/11, again. Worse, the U.S. has destroyed it's own international credibility in the process, since "the U.S." (more precisely, the Bush administration) created events that killed uncountably many civilians and wrecked a country in the process. In 9/11, we at least had sympathy.

What's worse, Al Quaeda doesn't even have to do the dirty work ... they just set it all in motion. Most of the insurgents the U.S. is now fighting weren't even a threat before the Iraq invasion.

In short, 9/11 was the catalyst, Iraq was the trap. Al Qaeda's military strategy has unfortunately worked quite well up to this point. I think Bush had even floated the idea of attacking Iran (but would be impeached before this ever really occured.)

Though I doubt that it was Al-Qaidas plan to bait the americans into invading Iraq, I think you are right about the consequenses.

Yes I agree... I don't think they specifically knew *who* we would attack, but I think they knew we would attack some mid east country in retailiation.

Are you stating this as opinion, or verifiable fact? It's difficult to tell from the way it's written (or maybe I just don't get it). If it's opinion, then I think it's a very valid one and has merit. If you claim it's fact then I would like to see some evidence.

Personally, I'm not a conspiracy kind of guy. I think the attack by Al Quaeda was exactly what it looked like. They planned to ram a plane into a building and then they did. Actually, they tried with more planes, but not all were successful. That's it. They thought no farther than that. Then we had a redneck president in office and he got all frisky and made some very bad decisions. I don't think it was over oil. I think he really thought he was doing the right thing when he attacked Iraq. He had heard there were weapons of mass destruction there and the intelligence was generally believed to be true, AFAICT. Bush, being the 'good ol' boy' that he is, decided a full attack on Iraq was a good idea. And that's what got us here. More like a comedy of errors than some grand conspiracy.

As to the effect, yes, it has taken its toll on the nation. But I don't see any terrorists behind it all, just a goofy president and a bunch of hot-headed citizens.

I don't think it's a conspiracy but just a military strategy. If someone is too big to fight, fluster them so they fall on their own sword.

I think the fundamental mistake the Bush administration made was in assuming "the enemy is dumb." This is a critical error in any conflict. Just because someone wants to kill us, that doesn't mean they aren't ever bit as smart, or even smarter than us.

The quotes I remember are from years ago (but will have to dig for them), but these shed some light on the overall strategy:

* “We have seen in the last decade the decline of the American government and the weakness of the American soldier who is ready to wage Cold Wars and unprepared to fight long wars. ...” - Osama Bin Laden, May 1998

“... American people, your government is leading you to a new losing war. U.S. people, your government was defeated in Vietnam and fled scared from Lebanon. It fled from Somalia and received a slap in Aden.” Ayman al-Zawahiri, October 2001

* “We can conclude that America is a superpower, with enormous military strength and vast economic power, but that all this is built on foundations of straw. So it is possible to target those foundations and focus on their weakest points which, even if you strike only one-tenth of them, then the whole edifice will totter and sway ...” Osama Bin Laden, February 2003

from:
Publications

Edit: oh to clarify, this is my opinion, although I think these and other statements from Al Qaeda support this conclusion.

Isn't this basically the same thing that happened in Vietnam?

I think there are similarities... Also, the catalyst is similar to Pearl Harbor in many respects. IMO, it's clear that Al Qaeda studied all these conflicts in depth, and profiled our military strengths and weaknesses.

Also, these guys are portrayed as simple minded thugs, but consider their qualifications:

He also states:

May 5, 2007 - al-Zawahiri speaks out against the funding bill passed by the US congress and later vetoed by President Bush that would have set dates for troop withdrawals, saying, "This bill will deprive us of the opportunity to destroy the American forces which we have caught in a historic trap."

From Ayman al-Zawahiri - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

C'mon, everytime I see shit like this I want to scream. How many rednecks and 'good ol' boys' do you know that went to Harvard, who's dad was president and head of the CIA, and who's grandfather had a hard-on for Hitler. WTF?

When will people realise the whole down-home, country bumpkin bullshit is just that, bullshit? He's not stupid, not a redneck, and he doesn't give a shit about anything except pleasing his masters. He didn't even have a Southern accent until he ran for office in Texas. Wake up. You're being played like a violin.

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him."
- G.W. Bush, 9/13/01

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."
- G.W. Bush, 3/13/02

There are Army personel telling the story of how they were forced to allow Osama to flee to Pakistan, how they were stopped from killing him on numerous occasions.

Look at the history of the Bush family, for christ sake, people. There's a reason some call it alCIAda. What about Cheney's plans for a pipe line through Afganistan, or the fact that his Haliburton holdings have gone through the roof or the numerous other happy coincedences?

The FBI has even admited it doesn't have enough evidence to charge Bin Laden with the goddamn attack!

Complete 911 Timeline

I won't claim to know what really happened or why, but I will tell you, the official story is a lie.

But anyone can get a degree from Harvard, if they have a powerful and wealthy father pulling strings for him. On his own, Bush was a lackluster student, poor businessman, and even worse politician. He can barely even manage to mangle together a sentence that's not scripted. I don't see a lot of evidence of hidden talents here

I never said he was stupid. I said he was a redneck -- which he is. That doesn't speak to his intelligence it speaks to his cultural viewpoint. I have a southern accent myself, so it's not his accent that I find dumb, it's his decisions. He's acting just like many people that I know would act if they were president. He's acting like a good ol' boy in the decisions that he makes.

"please his masters"? WTF? That came from left field. Ockham's razor, guys. Pick the simple explanation and quit trying to drum up some hidden stuff where it isn't.

Bush gets his policy from the CFR, like every other president since Wilson. It's documentable. It's not hidden, at all.

Guys? If there's any ambiguitity, I'm an anti-conspiracy theorist. Fu is arguing a different conclusion than me.

I just think 9/11 was a provocation to war ... and Bush took the bait.

That was not directed at you yaaarrrrgggggggg. Sorry for the ambiguity. It was directed at Fu and the 'guys' who have similar opinions. Your opinion, actually, is as simple as any -- I'm just not sure I agree with it.

funny, I never detected it..

If you ever follow belief that the simplest explanation is the correct one then consider the simplicity of a false flag operation: Perhaps Osama actually works for the CIA... the whole terrorist thing is just a charade, we attack ourselves to garner our and hopefully worldwide hatred against radical muslims, and from the fallout muslims as well, to justify the warring and nation building with multiple middle eastern countries such as Afghanastan, Iraq and next Iran. For oil, the petro dollar, israeli agenda... or what ever conspiracy you happen to favor.

It's not theory if it's verifiable fact.

Fair enough

I saw one video that suggested that thermite was used in the WTC collapse. A conspiracy theorist will say the government planted it, and detonated the building. My first thought (assuming it's true) is that the hijackers' boss was smart enough to pack a suitcase full of thermite. I could be wrong of course, but it's just my train of thought...

I'm not really sure why everyone needs some sort of direct link between 9/11 and Iraq. The ideology of the 9/11 terrorists is rapid through out the Mid East. Just pick a Mid East country. Iraq was just convenient and better located than Afghanistan. Anyone think we're not fighting Al Queada right now in Iraq?

I think Al Queada had no any plan to draw the US into a war and I'm sure they didn't have the foresight to see the invasion of Iraq let alone Afghanistan.

I hate using the word invasion to describe what happen in Iraq. Invasions are planned and the more I study this war in Iraq the less I believe there was a plan. 20,000 troops do not hold a city of 5,000,000, yet that's what was on the ground the first few weeks in Baghdad.

Very overgeneralizing. I would say, this means two things; it is probably an incorrect worldview, and worse, it is an undiplomatic one which pushes very immoral wars as only outcome to relieve the pressure. (and calling them anything like 'axis of evil' is just plain stupid)
I am not sure what we are fighting in Iraq, but sure it is not all Al Queada. Some of it is probably civil war too.
I agree, i have heard some pretty convincing stuff that the old Iraqi govt tried to keep groups like that out, rather then harboring them.