Bush Exonerated, But Too Late
By Kevin Roeten (05/08/07)
The above headline is something you will likely see in the future. Despite almost unprecedented low approval ratings in early 2007, it is inevitable that Bush will push through the barrier of positve approval ratings. It's unfortunate that the change will likely come after he leaves office.
What will be remembered for all of history is Bush's reaction to 9/11. A few items should be remembered, however. Afghanistan was scoured for bin Laden, despite Clinton having bin Laden offered to him a three times. Hussein was to be deposed after various atrocities including almost every country's intelligence claim that he did have WMD's. Putin(Russia) even stated that Hussein did intend to use WMD's against America. Hussein continued to target allied aircraft in the "no-fly" zone, and he 'thumbed' his nose at all of the UN resolutions on Iraq.
It was known that Hussein had reached out to terrorists to use as proxies to deliver WMD's, that he and his generals had threatened retaliation with WMD's if America attacked. Hussein subsidized terrorism in Israel, and he had killed over 800,000 Iraqis during his regime. His cooperation with al-Qaeda was well known, including numerous existing terrorist camps in Iraq, and even one in downtown Baghdad(Salman Pak) used for training terrorists in a Boeing 707 fuselage. The dots to be connected not only existed, but they were plastered on the wall for everyone to see.
After the incursion, Allied forces found items left behind by Hussein's quickly decimated force: terrorist training camps(Salman Pak), and literally tons of documentation concerning Hussien's WMD plans which are now available on [fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/products.docex.htm]. Most interestingly, the Brits stand by their intelligence that Hussein's cronies were in Niger trying to buy 'yellowcake' for nuclear devices. The US had unearthed several terrorist bases in Iraq, and 'sarin' had been found dumped in the Euphrates. Later, 500 shells of sarin gas were found buried in Iraq, many instances of Hussein working with al-Qaeda that were documented, and previous Iraqi generals who admitted that WMD's were shipped to neighboring terrorist states before the incursion(e.g., Syria, Iran, etc...). Even the UN(chief weapons inspector Demitrius Perricos) reported that 289 of 340 pieces of equipment to produce missiles had been removed from Iraq. And according to satellite imagery, material that could be used to make biological or chemical weapons and banned long range missiles had been removed from 109 different sites. If one didn't know all these facts, either the 'press' decided they weren't worth hearing, or they just weren't believed. It looks like the picture is no longer 'connect-the-dots'---it's seems to be a Rembrandt.
One of the massive lapses of world journalism is investigating what happened to the 100,000 criminals released by Hussein on the eve of the incursion. It's all too real to see that most of the 'political' violence is not really political at all. Existing plans are to train Iraqis to crush any terrorrism that may develop, and allow Americans to eventually leave. Soon, tens of divisions of Iraqi soldiers, and over 100,000 police will be able to eliminate any remaining resistance.
But detractors of Bush policies can't seem to explain certain things. Normally, the deposing of Hussein in Iraq after 9/11 would have temporarily stopped all militaristic operations on both sides. But instead of the anticipated ending, things got worse. The table of incidents from the annual 2006 Country Reports on Terrorism(Oliver North/TownHall) showed that the number of worldwide terrorist incidents increased from 11,153 to 14,338(25% rise). It also showed that 20,494 people died at terrorist hands---a 40% increase from the year before. Bombings were up 30%, and casualties increased 39%. Individual suicide bombing was up 25%. It shows that more than 50% of these victims were other Muslims. Among those casualties were more than 1800 children--an 80% increase from last year. Even though the above attacks are claimed by Islamic radicals, no Islamic leader has denounced this action.
Al-Qaeda, a radical Islamic sect, seems to want to protect Iraq and drive the Allies out. But why Iraq? Ordinarily, the loss of a terrorist supporter(Hussein) would simply mean that terrorist activity would simply reorganize somewhere else for another attack. Did Bush just get lucky with hitting the 'mother lode' of Islamic terrorism? Was Hussein that close to al-Qaeda networks? Why does al-Qaeda want us out of Iraq so bad when they're actually a world-wide organization? And, is Bush dangerously close to finding out something that the Islamofascists don't want found out? Critics will say that this upsurge in lethal terror is a direct result of the US upsurge in Iraq. But slightly more than half of all terrorist attacks occured in 2006--before the upsurge was even announced. One thing for certain, if terrorists aren't at least slowed now, they will come back to bite us in the near future much worse than 9/11.
We're reminded from General David Petraeus(American commander/ Iraq), that al-Qaeda's #1 priority is defeating the United States in Iraq. He also stated that "Iraq is, in fact, the central front of al-Qaeda's campaign." He knows that al-Qaeda is fomenting the sectarian strife on both sides of the Iraqi street. The stated goal of al-Qaeda is to sabotage all the heavily participated elections in Iraq, as well as the new democratic government in the center of the Middle East.
Much has been written about the coming onslaught of radical Islam in the world. The ascending attacks by Islam up to the culminating 9/11 attack, has been documented, but absorbed by few. Actually, the 9/11 incident was supposed to be much larger. The White House, as well as many specific targets on the west coast were also targeted, but turned away by a quick thinking administration. But over 60% of the public seems unaware of radical Islam's actual intentions. Most can't see that Bush would choose such a course when the deficit is being rapidly diminished, unemployment has been the lowest in years, and the stock market has broken records. Something is driving him. No doubt, Bush knows more than the average citizen.
But one has to wonder, more than five years down the road, how Bush has managed to eliminate all terrorist activity in the US to date. This is even with al-Qaeda publicly stating that they want to kill as many Americans as possible. Bush will go down in history as a president who saved thousands of Americans more than perished on 9/11. A president who not only withstood political dissent, withstood citizens who don't remember that freedom is not free, but helped to fulfill America's destiny to become the most powerful nation on earth.
Of course, he could've just thrown in the towel, decided that terrorism could have their way, pulled all American troops out of Iraq, and essentially told the terrorists the date when the Americans would leave. He could've even said that the war against terrorism is "lost", that terrorists could have their way as of the pullout date, and that all those soldiers that were wounded and killed in the conflict against terrorism, died in vain. But no one that was anywhere near patriotic would do such a thing. Besides, one would have to determine exactly to whom America lost the war.
Kevin Roeten
http://kevinroeten.us/
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