Through the Looking Glass

I can't get Larry David out of my head ... and it's driving me crazy.
Let me explain. I can't stop thinking about the ad promoting his show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, where he's looking at a glass of water that's half-empty (or half-full) and the tag line reads "it's all a matter of perspective." That's because the war in Iraq continues to drag on with no resolution in sight.
The ties that bind the United States with Saddam Hussein date back to the 1980s, when America provided intelligence information and military support to Iraq during its conflict against Iran -- despite being "officially neutral." In 1990, the former dictator invaded Kuwait; his actions drew global condemnation and led to the battle in the Persian Gulf.
More than a decade later, when Osama bin Laden orchestrated the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, U.S. officials perpetuated the misconception that Hussein was somehow connected to the incident. All of these events set the stage for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
America's presence in Afghanistan is justified because it was the headquarters of the Taliban, who provided bin Laden with a safe harbor from justice for his crimes. Meanwhile, Hussein had limited freedom in his own country, due to a no-fly zone and U.N. sanctions -- which begs the question of how he posed a threat to the U.S. in the first place.
It's been said that America is on its way to victory in the "war on terror" because Hussein was quickly toppled from power and eventually executed. As for al-Qaeda, critics say its influence is waning. But these two occurrences aren't mutually exclusive; other than their hatred of the U.S., bin Laden and Hussein had little in common.
Overthrowing Hussein's regime has come at the expense of geopolitical stability in the Middle East (and, by extension, the rest of the world) ... and bin Laden is still on the loose somewhere along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border -- despite President Bush's promise to capture him, dead or alive.
Speaking of Bush, more than four years after he declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq, he addressed the world on Memorial Day by saying "one day, this war will end -- as all wars do." Regardless of one's "perspective" on this issue, that day can't come soon enough.