I have never been a huge fan of President Bush
Published May 13th, 2006 in PoliticsI have never been a huge fan of President Bush. Some decisions he has made have been worthy ones, but most of them have been shortsighted, far-reaching decisions that we are reaping the worst of now. This isn’t a Republican issue, and this isn’t a Democratic issue. It ain’t a conservative issue, and it ain’t a liberal issue. Bush does not seem to fit well into any one boat. Regardless of what political constituancy you belong to, the revelations of some of the actions taken by this administration are hard to swallow.
After September 11th, 2001, the country united and rallied behind the President to seek revenge against those that attacked on our soil. We invaded Afghanistan and liberated that country from the grip of the Taliban regime. We came very close to capturing Osama Bin Laden in the mountains near the Afghanistan/Pakistan border. We have not gotten closer ever since. Now, Afghanistan is suffering from record unemployment and daily attacks from a resurging Taliban.
The President decided that Iraq was a better target. There was supposed to be evidence of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in Iraq, and Iraq was also supposed to be gathering uranium in Africa to build nuclear weapons. So, even though we had not caught Osama bin Laden, the President called for the invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003.
It was supposed to be a short conflict, and citizens were supposed to greet our soliders with flowers. That was the mindset of the commanders who planned for the invasion. The planning did not take into account that foreign terrorists would cross largely unprotected borders and wage an insurgency war against the coalition of troops. This war has not yet ended more than three years later since the first bombs were dropped in the Shock and Awe that was the first moments of Gulf War II.
Enough with the history lesson. This was has cost us almost 2,500 of our brave fighting men and women. Not to undermine the duty of our men and women in uniform, but for what has these people died for? We are fighting on foreign soil to liberate a foreign state which evidence suggests had no ties to the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda that was behind 9/11. It is great that we are attempting to liberate Iraq, but why Iraq? Plenty of countries in Africa have suffered under brutal regimes for decades, but we don’t rush to the aid of those countries? North Koreans are being starved by Kim Jong-il, but we are not going to invade North Korea and liberate those people. No, we go and invade Iraq because the President wanted to finish what his father couldn’t, and in the process create many new problems that future administrations will have to deal with.
While the American people were rallying behind the President, the President was setting forth initiatives to limit the privacy and liberties of everyday people to increase security. In recent months, it has been revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been logging American phone records, in cooperation from Verison, AT&T, and BellSouth, to create the largest database in the world.
Now what purpose would this database serve? It just consists of phone numbers and what phone numbers called that phone number, and what phone number was called by that phone number. No names, right? The President claimed that the database was created to track terrorist activity. Well, you can’t track terrorist activity without knowing what names are behind those phone numbers. If every phone number has a name behind it, and the government knows about this too (and they probably do from other records), then guess what? The government has a large database that tracks who you call, how often you call, and who calls you.
There are many other shortcomings that this administration has dealt the American people. From turning a record surplus into a record deficit to a war of words between Russia’s President Putin and Vice President Dick Cheney that some are calling a new Cold War, this administration has a lot to answer to. I understand that all of this is supposed to protect the American people. To the credit of this administration, the United States has not been attacked by terrorists since 9/11. However, that has come with a steep price. Our soliders are dying in Iraq, and our civil liberties are being chopped away in the name of national security. As Ben Franklin put so eloquently:
They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security.
First, I advise you to watch this: http://2005.thetrueusa.info/
Also, yeah, we’ve lost about 2,500 soldiers (or lives I guess) … and you ask what they died for? Approx. 3,000 people were killed on September 11. So one day…. 4 years… yeah I don’t see why people are complaining. By this time in WW2 we would have lost a few million.
Also, the intelligence that President Bush recieved about Iraq came primarily from the CIA and other parts of government. The informees that relayed the info to the president were originally picked by Clinton. I hope you’re not a big fan of Clinton, either. This was NOT President Bush’s fault. If anything, it’s Clinton’s. That is, if you want to complain about it. What good is complaining going to do?
Clinton was a COWARD… he KNEW that Al Quedia (however you spell that) was a threat, but he didn’t do anything about it. You know why? Cause he was afraid his popularity would go down for starting a war. Well lookie what happened. 9-11 came along and by that time there was nothing the newly-elected President Bush could do about it. Would you rather have the war take place over here or over there in the middle east?
As for the economy, you need to realize that wars cost money. The only reason it looks like Clinton had a better economy is because there was no real major war we were in. The US unemployment rate has actually gone down 2% since Bush’s election.
And finally, the phone logging. Would you like to know if there was a terrorist in YOUR country? Or not? Let them run rampant? Sure, great idea! Let them do whatever they want. They’re in a free country, right? Let’s not care because we want privacy over security over freedom. It’s sad that most of Americans want security but want privacy more… you can only have one or the other to a point. They did a poll. People would rather throw away their freedom to get security. Well, we’re not limiting freedoms by doing this…
I expect a response comment answering every single question I’ve asked…
Firstly, nice patriotic slideshow you have there. Really, good job.
The war in Iraq was not necessary. We have not captured the number one man behind the attacks of 9/11, Osama bin Laden, and yet we have decided to embark on a war on faulty intelligence and evidence of WMD’s in Iraq. Other countries have WMD’s, yet we did not invade and liberate those countries. Now there’s Iran and North Korea who are developing and testing nuclear weapons and ICBM’s. What makes Iraq so darn special? Hmm, maybe it’s because Bush Sr. almost got assassinated by Hussein perhaps? Our soilders should be continuing to find everyone associated with 9/11. With the war in Iraq, we have just allowed more terrorists to wreak havoc that there was before. Where’s the evidence that Iraq and Al Qaeda were linked? Where’s the evidence that Iraq and Hussein were involved in 9/11?
Do you remember that note that the President recieved from his daily briefing in August 2001 that said that a terrorist attack in the U.S. was imminent? Yeah, it should have been a wake-up call for the President to do something. It was about a month before the attacks, but right then and there security should have been stepped up. If anything, it is just as much Bush’s fault as it is Clinton’s fault that 9/11 occured. Clinton did attempt to take out Bin Laden, but the mission did not succeed. He should have kept trying, and Bush should have tried immediately after taking the oath of office. Both Presidents could have done a better job, wouldn’t you agree?
How much is it worth for another country to be liberated? How much is it worth to send a ton of money towards a war that shouldn’t have been started in the first place? How much of that money could have been invested here at home for better border security systems that prevent terrorism such as what occured on 9/11? That money could be used to rebuild New Orleans to make it a better city. That’s where the money should go, to OUR OWN PEOPLE that were affected by a NATURAL DISASTER that officials throughout local, state and federal government did not adequately prepare for. Heck, we could have not spent the money at all, and that would have helped to keep the deficit from spiraling out of control.
I am glad the government is watching for terrorists. However, I don’t think it is necessary to log innocent American’s phone records to accomplish this. The previous plan to log international phone calls would have worked just fine here, and even that is pushing the law. I am not one of those people that would rather have security. I don’t want to live in a police state, yet every day little by little our rights as U.S. citizens are being taken away. What’s next? The president calling off the 2008 election because of some ongoing conflict (Iraq War)?
If the majority of the country (and congress for that matter) just wishes to sit back and let the president do whatever the hell he wants, then we all need to wake up and restore the proper balance of power.
Saddam Hussein was a terrorist that was biologically bombing his OWN PEOPLE. But the news doesn’t tell you that.
As for funding for Katrina, the local government including the governor and mayor were given millions of dollars to fix the flood walls but instead they spent it on Martigra preperation and cleanup. (However you spell martigra) - the feds were prepared after emergency drills and everything; but the local government were the ones that got stupid.
Also, we’re still in Afghanistan but again, the media never talks about it because all the liberal-controlled media wants to do is complain about the situation in Iraq, which they don’t realize is already half-controlled by Iraqi soldiers and policemen that we’ve trained so they can take back their country. And did you even KNOW they voted in a new government? Nope! Next headline on the news: “3 more die in Iraq from IEDs”… at least in OUR newspaper and CNN.
As for North Korea and Iran, don’t think we don’t have our eyes on them. Invasion plans from the CIA and the pentagon have already begun development for liberation of Iran if the crisis there worsens. That was on BBC and CNN, which I actually trust somewhat. ABC I do too, which it was also on, but not quite as much.
Anyway, we have spy satellites over North Korea right now as well, watching what they’re doing to make sure they’re not a threat. And instead of creating a 2-front war by invading them, we’re “Beefing Up” our missile defense systems by putting lasers in jumbo jets, radar on oil-rig-things and satellites that can shoot down missiles and even enemy satellites. One more thing: North Korea (from what we know at least) does not have ICBM’s… they do not have a missile with a range to get to the US. Hawaii, yes, maybe Alaska, but not the 48 contiguous states. We have missiles that can go anywhere.
And, it is true, Iraq had very little federal connection with terrorists. BUT, their weak security was allowing terrorists to do whatever they wanted, basically, was a threat to the middle east, us, and the world. Hence our invasion and liberation of those people.
Also, the note that President Bush got was only saying that a terrorist attack may be going to happen soon; intel - from what I understand - pointed to shipments in our harbors …. not airports. They actually increased the harbor’s security around the nation from August through, well, September (11) when things changed a bit. He DID do what he could with what he knew.
Would you rather a war on terrorism - not a war against uniformed soldiers in command lines, marching forward on the battlefield with flags in one hand and guns in the other - but a war against an unknown enemy - take place on the other side of the world or on your doorstep? People complain about the length of the war, but when you look at it, you need to realize that these are not uniformed soldiers we’re fighting. They’re stealthy, secret, and very invisible. The tough part is they blow themselves up before we can get to ‘em to get information from them.
“Innocent American phone records” - and only on International calls? What if there’s terrorists in the country? And how do you know who is innocent unless you know what they’re talking about? They don’t care what Aunt Marge has to say to Little Benny, and they won’t even listen to those; all they want is calls that could lead to the capture of terrorists and enemies.
“If the majority of the country (and congress for that matter) just wishes to sit back and let the president do whatever the hell he wants, then we all need to wake up and restore the proper balance of power.” - are you saying we don’t live in a democracy anymore? Name me some rights we’ve lost — and not ones that come from stupid people like saying the pledge at schools — but ones that have been taken away by the President. How in the world do you live in a police state?? I’m starting to get ticked and let my emotions get in the way but you’ve got to be kidding me!
Do armed gunmen come to your door and tell you what you’re doing? Do you have cameras in your house linked to a command center at the national guard? Do you have the choice to do whatever you want? Do you have the right to videotape something and broadcast it to the world without restrictions? Your answers to these questions are: No, No, Yes, and Yes. If they are otherwise please explain in great detail and tell me how we live in a police state.
One last thing: “Heck, we could have not spent the money at all, and that would have helped to keep the deficit from spiraling out of control.” —- wars cost money, buddy. WW2 was even worse… stop your whinin’.
Nothing personal, you’re pretty cool; I just want to get my point across.
What Saddam Hussein did to his own people was a atrocity and an abombination. Kim Jong’il is starving his own people. There is plenty of civil unrest in Africa. There was a limit to how much liberating we can do.
Although we are in Afghanistan, troops were pulled from there for the Iraq invasion and occupation. Since then, as I mentioned in my original article, the Taliban is reclaiming control of the country. Will the work done there go to waste? Will we find Bin Laden?
I knew about Iraq forming a new government. It is a big step towards the country becoming self-sustaining. But what is going to stop Iraqis from electing a terrorist? It happened in Palestine. I hope that does not happen and I hope that Iraq can recover, but the country still is less secure and more lacking of modern amenities than before we invaded. We are trying our best to rebuild the country, but the insurgence is hampering our every effort. There is still A LOT of work to do in Iraq, and I still stand by my opinion that we shouldn’t have invaded in the first place. Now that we are there, I am all for leaving the country in much better shape than we found it.
Iraq supposedly had WMD’s, so maybe if those WMD’s were to be delivered via missle, these defenses should have been implemented here and in Israel.
And now Iraq is even less secure than it was under Hussein, allowing terrorists to do even more to derail any efforts in the Middle East.
Yes…we are fighting a different type of enemy. The stealthy, invisible, covert methods that the insurgence are using is effective, but it does not take out as much at one time as an enemy army with tanks, guns, and missles. Still, I don’t think we have yet figured out how to rid Iraq of any insurgence activity. It may actually be better if we let the Iraqi’s fight against the insurgence. The Iraqi’s may know where the insurgence may be centrailized, and the Iraqis may have a better chance against the insurgence since, believe it or not, the insurgence would rather face the invaders (US) instead of the people that have been invaded and are now working with the invaders.
Well then, how do we know who’s a terrorist unless we know what they are talking about? To know what they are talking about, we have to know what’s in those conversations, including those by Aunt Marge and Little Benny. You said yourself that we don’t know whose innocent unless you know what they are talking about.
No, I am saying that the President has been given more power than he should be allowed. All while congress sits back and signs off on all of it, including the Democrats. Then those same Democrats come out of the woodwork and say how dispicable these acts are, even after voting for the very things they denounce. This, my friend, is why I have lost a lot of faith in our government.
*Sigh* Okay… believe what you want…. I’m too tired now to continue the debate…