We are now almost seven years past 911, and Osama Bin Laden still lurks in the mountains of Afghanistan, occasionally sending a video tape to taunt us of his continued freedom. Iraq was controlled by a mad man, but not a mad man who had actually invaded our country. In fact, read a historical account of how Saddam gained power, and you will easily see the United States helped him gain his control. If we invaded Iraq out of the goodness of our hearts to prevent the killings of their citizens at the hand of Saddam, that is well and good. However, it leaves a few unanswered questions: Where were we when 1,350,000 were slaughtered in Rwanda and we did nothing? Where were we when 1,400,000 were slaughtered in Ethiopia and we did nothing? Where were we when 3,800,000 were slaughtered in the Congo and we did nothing? And where are we as millions are still being slaughtered as of today in East Timor? Hmm - it couldn't possibly be because Iraq is the only one of these who has massive oil reserves, could it?

Our next presidential election is in the very near future. As I am writing this, the big news story this week is how John McCain doesn't know how many houses he has. During this "latest race for the White House," I have heard plenty of statements from both candidates on how they plan to address issues concerning the war in Iraq, and I have even heard them both address the potential problem we have with Iran. Unfortunately, I have heard neither of them say much at all about Osama Bin Laden.

Why is Bin Laden so hard to catch? People who commit crimes for power or financial gain are fairly easy to catch. Some other person wanting power or financial gain helps take them down to further their own agenda. Bin Laden, and his followers truly believe they are serving Allah, their God, and are doing what Allah has called them to do. It is not about finance, and it is not about power. It is not like the Mafia where someone can go undercover and infiltrate them. It is also not like the Mafia where one of their captured members gives up information in exchange for a reduced sentence. These are people that are submitted to torture when they are captured, but will die before they will give up any of their comrades. I still think if as much time, energy, and money was spent on Iraq, surely Bin Laden could have been captured or killed by now.

What is the solution? As much as it needs to be done, our country is in a financial crisis. Our dollar is the weakest it has ever been in the global economy, and we are in a recession. After $800 billion spent in Iraq, our military budget is very stressed. However, before we get sidelined in another Iraq, we must take care of Bin Laden once and for all, no matter what the cost.

My Question:
It has been almost seven years since 911, and I have but one question:
Since 911, why has $800 billion been spent in Iraq when the madman who
was responsible is still free?
And to quote Forest Gump, "and that's all I have to say concerning the subject."

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