No, they didn't. For the most part, anyway; Saddam had some al Qaeda contacts before the war. But you're right, they were scattered all over the middle east and Africa. But they did exist; al Qaeda did not come into existence because of the Iraq war. All the war did was prompt them to gather in one place (where they're easier to kill).
Sure Iraq had
contacts with al Qaeda before the war. Lots of governments did. Of course, contacts can range anywhere from a telephone call or text message all the way to actual material support.
The point is, that al Qaeda was not operating in any substantial way in Iraq until
after the US invasion of Iraq.
Yes they did. The difference is that indigenous Iraqi terrorists actually ran the government. Or how else would you describe Saddam and his thugs?
While the pre-war government or Iraq was powerful and repressive, it was hardly a terrorist form of government. If it was, then it would have been impossible for Iraq to produce all of the oil it did before the war started and that is why Saddam avoided getting involved with al Qaeda because he knew that he would never be able to control them.
Again, al Qaeda existed before the invasion; all the invasion did (other than overthrow Saddam and give Iraq at leasgt a fighting chance to become a legitimate democracy) was give al Qaeda a place to go and fight the infidels.
That is true, however one should note that the invasion has done a great deal more than simply provide convenient targets for al Qaeda.
It has also proved to be real distraction of US foreign policy which has enabled other governments (like the "Axis of Evil" nations such Iran and North Korea) to do some of the things they that have been wanting to do.
It has driven up the cost of oil which has helped make some of the nations we have issues with (such as Iran and Syria) a good bit richer.
It has driven up the Federal Budget Deficit to record highs, thus making other nations (such as China) rather wealthy at our expense.
And so forth and so on.
Assuming that claim is true - and I'd love to see your evidence of that - do Christians go around slaughtering Jews these days? Does anybody go around slaughtering Jews these days?
Well, yes, there is one group of people that goes about slaughtering Jews. Can you explain what that group's grudge against the Jews might be? I hadn't heard about the great Jewish Crusade...
Slaughtering of Jews these days? No, fortunately that really does not happen anymore.
However, there has been a great deal Jew slaughtering in fairly recent history such as the Pogroms of Czar Nicholas II in the early 1900s (as done by devout Eastern Orthodox Christians), and the Nazi Holocaust of the 1940's (many Nazis who were directly involved considered themselves to be good Christians). More recently, there has been a substantial resurgence of anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe and Russia, as well as numerous anti-Semitism groups elsewhere (KKK, neo-Nazis, etc. who also consider themselves to be good Christians) which does show itself in acts of isolated anti-Jewish violence.
It may seem hard for you to belive, but there are still plenty of people who do actually blame Jews of today for the killing of Jesus. I know because there are a few of these people in my family.
Uh, yeah. Actually, I have some references that will have to wait until I get back home; the facts about the Crusades aren't as cut-and-dried as your wikipedia links suggest.
Well good reading to you then! Also, I was not trying to present the facts about the Crusades being cut-and-dried, because that is not the case; I was simply providing you with some elementary data that you appeared to lack.
If you really want more data about the Crusades there are any number books and documentaries about the subject that you will have to study yourself and I hope that in doing so you will develop some understanding of your enemy.
