- Joined
- Sep 12, 2003
- Messages
- 668
Well, my only comments here would be that terrorism was literally the very last thing on the Bush administration's 'to do list' prior to 911, this has been confirmed time and again. He didn't go after it of his own volition, it was forced upon him. To suggest that Gore or any other commander in chief wouldn't make a move after 911 to protect our nation is rather ridiculous. No president would react to the murder of thousands by extremists with a passive shrug.
Bush's 'ballsy' appraoch hasn't really put us in a better position in the bigger scheme. We've dumped enormous resources into Iraq, which undoubtedly did almost nothing in the war on terrorism but satisfied Bush's own agenda. Bin Laden is at large, Al Queda is bigger than ever, and the Taliban and warlords still dominate Afghanistan. We've weakened our international credibility, stretched our armed forces thin with poor planning, and have little to show for it but a huge mess in a country that had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks and din't pose any danger to the US. Meanwhile millions of tons of freight and cargo come into our country unchecked and we've found our intelligence agencies are woefully incapable of battling the problem. Bush misled the public with trumped up rhetoric to mold teh war on terror to his won agenda instead of following the advice of the most qualified to make decisions on the matter.
It's common place to say that Bush has stepped up to the plate and this makes him a great man, but I don't recall many people seggesting we go to war and create a new regime of national security in order to deal with terrorists before 911; it certainly wasn't on Bush's radar. Diplomacy and security require more measures than shipping our troops overseas and having them shoot up anything looks suspicious. We'll never win with those tactics, it's like trying to stomp out a swarm of bees with your boot. It's blunt and ineffective, the current state of affairs shows this. We're not winning right now under the Bush model, it simply has nto worked. See the recent bi-partisan complaint against Bush's foreign policy signed off on by several dozen former diplomats, statesmen, and military leaders, including the man who lead the airforce in the first Gulf War. The military leadership doesn't like Bush's approach, nor do our diplomats and experts. They think it's bad for America, and I tend to agree.
Bush's 'ballsy' appraoch hasn't really put us in a better position in the bigger scheme. We've dumped enormous resources into Iraq, which undoubtedly did almost nothing in the war on terrorism but satisfied Bush's own agenda. Bin Laden is at large, Al Queda is bigger than ever, and the Taliban and warlords still dominate Afghanistan. We've weakened our international credibility, stretched our armed forces thin with poor planning, and have little to show for it but a huge mess in a country that had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks and din't pose any danger to the US. Meanwhile millions of tons of freight and cargo come into our country unchecked and we've found our intelligence agencies are woefully incapable of battling the problem. Bush misled the public with trumped up rhetoric to mold teh war on terror to his won agenda instead of following the advice of the most qualified to make decisions on the matter.
It's common place to say that Bush has stepped up to the plate and this makes him a great man, but I don't recall many people seggesting we go to war and create a new regime of national security in order to deal with terrorists before 911; it certainly wasn't on Bush's radar. Diplomacy and security require more measures than shipping our troops overseas and having them shoot up anything looks suspicious. We'll never win with those tactics, it's like trying to stomp out a swarm of bees with your boot. It's blunt and ineffective, the current state of affairs shows this. We're not winning right now under the Bush model, it simply has nto worked. See the recent bi-partisan complaint against Bush's foreign policy signed off on by several dozen former diplomats, statesmen, and military leaders, including the man who lead the airforce in the first Gulf War. The military leadership doesn't like Bush's approach, nor do our diplomats and experts. They think it's bad for America, and I tend to agree.