Cheney's Non Sequitur

The Washington Post reports this non sequitur delivered by Dick Cheney to a gathering of soldiers at Fort Drum in New York:

"Some have suggested by liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein we simply stirred up a hornet's nest. They overlook a fundamental fact: We were not in Iraq in September 2001 and the terrorists hit us anyway."

Nor were we in Iraq in December 1941, but Japan struck us anyway. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, despite Cheney's continuing to insinuate a connection.
It is 64 years since the Japanese navy attacked the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor. On this anniversary, let us return to the comparative timelines of WWII and TWoT:
World War II
The Allies landed in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944 -- 912 days after Pearl Harbor. Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945. Japan signed the surrender agreement with the U.S. on Sept 2, 1945 -- 1,365 days after the U.S. was attacked.
The U.S., which ended WWII as the strongest nation in the world, led the creation of the alliances that shaped the world for 60 years.
The War on Terror
On September 11, 2001, Osama Bin Laden directed the attacks that struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Iraq War began on March 20, 2003 -- 555 days later. On May 1, 2003 -- 597 days after the U.S. was attacked -- President Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq.
Today is December 7, 2005. 1,549 days have passed since the U.S. was attacked. Bin Laden is still at large; Bush and Cheney are resisting calls for withdrawal; and assertions that the insurgency is "in its last throes" ring hollow.