Many that are of the 9/11 Conspiracy camp, where it is assumptive that the Bush Administration had 'set up' the entire 2 Tower Collapse as a means to justify any action that they wanted to advance their neo-conservative causes, chief among them the invasion of Iraq, are simply misplaced paranoia in my opinion.

The 'Rosie O'Donnell Brigade' is wrong that our government plotted to bring down these structures and cause the loss of over 2700 lives.  Where they see this 'evil plot' by the Bush Regime, I see an inept government bureaucracy not communicating among it's protective organizations.  The manner in which the attack took place did present several opportunities to foil the plot of the hijackers on that fateful day.  We have abundant proof that this occurred.  We should have caught them as a result of many suspicions while the attackers trained to fly.  We had several of them on 'watch lists' while they were here.  We simply missed those warning signs, ignored the clues and the inter-departmental dividing lines prevented us from sharing the information and, thus, possibly preventing this terrible tragedy.  That's really the truth that came out of the 9/11 Commission and we subsequently passed legislation and funding to make sure that these oversights will not occur 'next time'.  Some would say we've lost some important freedoms within the Patriot Act, and I certainly have my own misgivings on that subject. 

The long Iraq Occupation, some would say indefinite, has hardened lines for and against this strategy as well as the legality that 'justified' it's existence. Many of us feel that we were lied to, and many aspects of this invasion has the 'smell' of American Imperialism, even among our citizens.  The arrogance of 'Team Bush' in pushing us into this war are readily apparent and documented.  We see many parallels with how Hitler abused his power to set 'Marching Orders' to his Regime.  We see dangerous trends towards propagandized 'truths' The Administration hammer into our collective consciousness as reasons to  'continue the fight for freedom, justice and the American Way'.  Unfortunately, these reasons are very much based on expedient lies we were told were absolutely true.  The WMD Lie being chief among them.  Saddam had no WMD, the Administration KNEW he had none, but they needed the excuse of WMD to invade, to further their agenda of an American footprint, nay, Empire in the Middle East.  We 'need' this base to fight terrorism 'on their doorstep' instead of ours the logic goes, thus we MUST invade and occupy and build colossal buildings to further our presence there.  Witness the grotesque extravagance of the American Embassy that is scheduled to open soon in Iraq.  It is HUGE and meant to be an imposing symbol of our Power writ large.  It is likely, if our efforts there are abandoned, to be a mind-boggling loss of revenue and prestige.  We may be, in fact, building the 'reason' we 'must' stay. 

Many of my inspirations for this piece have come from an excellent 2005 Documentary 'Why We Fight', currently showing on Starz (Cable) and available as a rental DVD at Blockbuster and others.  I highly recommend it's viewing. 

One could easily add one more country to 'The Axis of Evil'.  That would be America itself.  Our world neighbors certainly perceive our doctrines with both suspicion and alarm.  We are fast becoming an Empire for the sake of Empire.  We risk much in our mad rush to power.  Perhaps too much.  For the sake of our own integrity and self respect I feel that it is important for the next Administration to repair this breach.  It's obvious that there will be no change of policy from the current Regime.  In fact, we are in a strange 'twilight zone' where we are not advancing 'The Empire of Democracy, American Style' opposed by  those that are calling for a return to our long history of non-involvement and Isolationism.  I feel I belong in the former camp.  I do not think we have a legitimate 'National Interest' in the Middle East, beyond a longing for peace there.  Regardless of the need for oil, we should demand of our leaders to not use Force as a Means to an End.  Just because we have 'the Big Stick' does not mean it is incumbent upon us to use it!  If, as a result of this policy, we find we must ration gasoline or otherwise impair 'headlong economic expansion' (with it's associative damage to the environment up to and including global warming), then so be it.  Perhaps outright Capitalism for the sake of Capitalism is not necessarily a 'good thing'.  Perhaps we need a rest, a withdraw from hostilities for the sake of Imperialism and Energy.  We need to have effective lines in the sand. This does NOT mean that we abandon such interests as Saudi Arabia, should they be attacked then we should defend them as the friends we claim they are.  We should stand down from offensive operations, regroup to defensive positions and let it be known that we will not allow terror attacks or state sponsored terror to occur. Harnessing our resources gained from non-productive military might towards a more reasoned approach of protection of our Borders and actual dialogue with our enemies, and friends. I feel it is also important to reexamine The Patriot Act, and other laws that threaten our own very freedoms we have subsumed to fight Terror and, where necessary, make amendments to them to both strengthen them and restore the balance between the Needs of the Many vs the Need of the One.  We need a return to responsible and democratic law.  We were rushed into passing the Patriot Act, the name itself is today a source of satire, towards a policy that protects the individual right to privacy while still allowing the means of the government to monitor and prevent those that would harm our great country.  Obviously this is not an easy task, but one I feel must be done else how are we any better than those we seek to stop?  The lessons of Abu Ghraib  and Gitmo stand as testaments to unchecked abuse of power.  The lessons of NSA Wiretapping and other examples of Government intrusion must likewise, be examined and modified.  This new creed of 'Let's Roll' needs to be reigned in.  We, The Only Super Power, must chain our use of the Military-Industrial Complex, as President Eisenhower warned us about many, many years ago, towards only peaceful goals.  This should be our next generation of leader's stated goal.  We must be ever vigilante that it is not perverted, as we have failed to do so with this current corrupt government's leaders.  The result of that failure is the Empire of Bush and the resulting hideous consequences. 

Zenny, Political Ideology 101