This is a fantastic essay on Iraq and terrorism by Richard Vague, a very successful businessman, CEO of Juniper Financial Corporation and avowed conservative. It is unfortunate that if we were going to have a conservative “CEO President”, as George W. Bush claimed to be, we didn’t get one with the thoughtfulness and enlightenment shown by Vague in this essay.

There are so many excellent points in here, and if I started quoting the good parts I’d end up with the whole thing, so I’ll include a snippet of the conclusion, and then you need to go and read the whole thing and forward it to your friends and family, especially the ones who still think invading Iraq was a good idea, or that were are well served by the current Administration.

We are not strengthening domestic defenses against terrorism adequately—nor pursuing true global terrorists vigorously—because of the enormous financial drain and military distraction of Iraq. That onerous burden diverts money from causes that could in fact make the world safer.

The war in Iraq is increasing the number of terrorists and the instances of terrorism world-wide because our administration has a misunderstanding of the true nature and causes of this violence.

Because of this same lack of understanding, we are not laying the diplomatic and economic groundwork necessary to reduce terrorism in the future.

Acts of oppression and occupation, the tinder of terrorism, will not quietly disappear. We have the opportunity to make a difference, especially in those areas of the world where population growth soars, economic equality worsens, and the seeds of extremism take root.