I do think that we need to find out why the pre-September 11 memos were never put together by US "intelligence". I am not, however, a conspiracy theorist. While I do not like the Bush Administration very much at all, I do not feel that he or anyone else that is, was, or ever shall be in the government could ever allow thousands of innocent lives to be taken away to ensure such things as oil trade and economic balance. I do not think they let September 11 happen as an excuse to get into a war anymore than I think that the American government knew about Pearl Harbour before it happened and used it as an excuse to get into war.
As for the War Against Terrorism, I don't agree with it. I am a pacifist, and I do not think it is right to just go in and kill, kill, kill. I know it's a little late now, but there's little pride to be won in defeating a country with no military whatsoever. You may as well just go beat up on a 2 year old, a cripple, or someone lying on their death-bed. I'm sorry if I'm attacking America's ego, but there really is nothing to be proud of.
I also disagree with the war because Bush has made it clear that he does not wish to stop at Afghanistan. He wants to go on to Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, as well. Congress never allowed this. They allowed him to go after Afghanistan and Afghanistan only. I feel that no matter how many people we kill, there is no stopping people from hating us. Most countries do hate America for being the self-proclaimed greatest country ever and for having a damn huge-assed superiority complex. What are we going to do, kill everyone who dares say anything bad about our precious country and way of life for fear they'll become anti-American and launch terrorist attacks against us? Well, then you can kiss your Constitutional rights goodbye.
And that's already starting to happen. New McCarthyism has been sweeping the nation. In many states, there's clear examples of it. In my home-state of Ohio, signs are going up in OfficeMax's saying that anybody copying suspicious papers will be reported to the authorities to protect customers, the community, and the nation. Protection? I think not. More like attempting to strike fear in the hearts of anyone that may have a leftwing opinion, such as myself. But as you can see, I'm clearly not going to let myself be scared into submission and the whole "you're either with us or you're a traitor" fiasco. If I end up being watched closely by the FBI/CIA, then so be it. Maybe it'll just get some more activism started up in this country to protest the holding of people for political beliefs. My basic message here is that you can have any opinion you want, and stand for it without fear. As long as you aren't protesting violently, you should have no problems with authorities. Unfortunately, after September 11, peaceful protesters have been watched by authorities. This is what New McCarthyism is. Obviously, people need to learn that history does in fact repeat itself. This is why history is a required subject. Notice that we have had 2 Red Scares in our history? And now we're having a repetition of McCarthyism. Sure, it hasn't gotten to the extent that we have begun to put people in our own government and in our own military on trial for being terrorists... yet. But if people don't wake up soon, that may happen. Get out there and learn!