How well has Bush handled the war on terror? Letâ??s see:
1. We are bogged down in an increasingly deadly guerilla war in Iraq. Bush has spent over $200 BILLION on the Iraq war, and well over 1000 Americans have been killed there. Yet the resistanceâ??s attacks are increasing and show no signs of abating. Large parts of Iraq are still not under governmental control.
2. The nuclear, chemical and biological WMDs that the administration said were in Iraq â??beyond all doubtâ? have never been found. Those weapons were Bushâ??s main justification for going to war.
3. The centerpiece of Bushâ??s war on terror is the invasion of Iraq, a country that had virtually no terrorists and posed no real military threat to the U.S.
4. The Iraq war has inflamed the Arab world and enraged millions of potential terrorists. Bushâ??s war has incited more terrorists and made us the most hated country in the world. This makes us less secure.
5. Bush squandered the widespread international support we had after 9/11. He failed to cooperate with the UN, and chose to go it alone in Iraq. Now, almost no other important countries are willing to help us control terrorism and Islamic extremism. We have far fewer allies now. This makes us less secure.
6. Warlords are re-establishing dominance in Afghanistan, because we never sent enough troops there to establish security outside of Kabul. Bush diverted troops to Iraq before the invasion of Afghanistan even started, and he has all but ignored it ever since.
7. Bushâ??s failure to establish security in Afghanistan (the rural areas and borders are virtually wide open) has again made it a haven for terror groups. Many terrorist groups in Afghanistan are funded by the resurgent heroin trade, which we have insufficient resources in-country to control.
8. U.S. military action in Afghanistan came so late and with such a small force that it all but ensured that Bin Laden and most other Al Quaeda and Taliban fighters would easily escape. The administration â??delegatedâ? the fight in Tora Bora (our last real chance to capture Al Quaedaâ??s leadership) to local warlords, who had no real incentive to capture Al Quaeda leaders. Almost all Al Quaeda leaders and fighters escaped to Pakistan. Due to lack of U.S. troops, the administration delegated the control of the Afghan/Pakistan border to the Pakistani military; Pakistani troops did not even attempt to guard the border.
9. Bush deployed too few troops in Iraq. Many thousands of innocent Iraqis died and ancient treasures were destroyed because the U.S. went in with just enough troops to depose Saddam, but not enough troops to secure the country. Iraqâ??s borders and rural areas are still unsecured. Much of the country has become a shooting gallery in which jihadists, mercenaries, suicide bombers and disgruntled Baathists are shooting and bombing U.S. soldiers.
10. Bush named Iran and North Korea as part of his â??axis of evilâ? and said they are developing nukes capable of reaching the U.S., but he has done nothing about them. Both Iran and North Korea have nuclear and missile technology, and they have surged ahead in their WMD programs, in an attempt to be have a full nuclear arsenal before the U.S. recovers from the war in Iraq.
11. The war in Iraq has reduced the U.S.â?? options with regard to Iran and North Korea. We now have fewer deployable soldiers, poorer finances, and less international support. Iran and North Korea need have virtually no fear that the U.S. will take military action against them in the near future, as we are stretched thin in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the American public is too weary and skeptical of Bush to support another war.
12. Saudi Arabia is a primary source of terrorism (including funding, personnel and ideological training), but Bush has refused to admit this. His ties to the oil industry, and to the Saudi royal family itself, make it unlikely that he will ever deal with the Saudis, who provide the bulk of terrorist funding.
13. Our homeland is just as vulnerable to terrorism as it was before 9/11. Nine million shipping containers enter the U.S. each year, and only about two percent of them are inspected. Administration officials admit that we cannot afford proper inspection, in light of our having already spent $200 billion invading Iraq. A single container can hold enough explosive material to level any city in America.
14. Americaâ??s water supply is all but unguarded. Local governments complain that almost none of the promised funding for police, emergency response and protection of water and other utilities has been sent by the federal government. We are no safer on the local level than we were before 9/11.
15. Bush has articulated no comprehensive long term plan to defeat Islamic terrorists, other than the neo-conservative solution: invade selected Arab countries and attempt to install democratic regimes in the region. He refuses to discuss the possibility that the U.S.â??s conduct with regard to Israel and Palestine is (as the terrorists themselves claim) the main reason for terrorism.
16. We have worsened the living conditions in Iraq. The administration virtually ignored post-war planning recommendations from the State Department, the Pentagon and the CIA. The current chaos in Iraq is a direct result Bushâ??s failure to responsibly plan for a safe and humane occupation.
So maybe you donâ??t think Bushâ??s DOMESTIC record is very good. Maybe you have doubts about his unprecedented deficit spending, his tax cuts for the rich and his handouts to corporations, and his failure to protect the environment. But you are overlooking all this (and his drunk driving conviction, his divisiveness, his amazingly poor record as a businessman, his inability to speak clearly, etc.), just because you think heâ??s the best leader for the war on terror?
