Observers this election season have been witness to the cultivation of an exceedingly polarized atmosphere by an ever-increasing mass of campaign minions, career politicians, and political pundits. Each respective side has, for months now, been readying their weapons and mapping out their strategies; attempting to secure votes via the skillful manipulation of rhetoric, divisive politics and hard-hitting inquiries. As different as the candidates are, one similarity is their common tendency to marginalize the successes of our current Commander-in-Chief. To be sure, the pair varies in terms of the degree to which they disregard the President’s achievements. While Barak Obama and Joe Biden disparage our President’s leadership (indeed Biden has hinted that, if elected, an Obama administration might possibly pursue criminal charges) Senator John McCain is doing his best to distance himself from the current administration.
Yet who can blame them? President Bush’s approval ratings are quite low (though they trump Congress’s poll numbers) and “change” has become a contagious mantra, with both candidates embracing the theme. In this environment a relative rejection of the past eight years is predictable, yet to ignore and diminish Bush’s most significant accomplishment does our country a disservice. I myself have problems with a number of the President’s policies; despite this I am more than sensitive to the fact that the administration has succeeded in achieving the most important role of government. President Bush and our unceasingly brave men and women in uniform have made this country safer.
Since September 11, 2001 we have gone over 2,500 days without another terrorist attack on American soil. On September 12, 2001 how many among us would have believed this to be possible? My guess is very few. We have reason to be proud of our country, its warriors, and, yes, its leaders.
Since the collective recognition of America’s domestic vulnerability, our government, under the leadership of President Bush, has reinforced security at home and, with the War on Terrorism, has taken the fight to the enemy. Since going on the offensive against Islamic extremism, our military has succeeded in taking down two of the globe’s most notorious state sponsors of terrorism, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Jack Spencer and Ha Nguyen, in an article publish by the Heritage Foundation, elaborated on the dangers posed by these types of accomplice nations, “a deadly synergy is created when states like Iraq and Afghanistan choose to work with terrorist groups. States have resources…that non-state actors do not have. On the other hand, non-state actors are able to operate globally and can act largely undetected… This symbiotic relationship can operate undercover, possibly without the knowledge of the American government. Thus, a state hostile to the United States may appear to be acting within the bounds of acceptable diplomatic behavior while at the same time covertly supporting aggressive endeavors of its non-state allies.” In taking the fight to the terrorists we have not only killed and/or apprehended thousands of terrorists but we have also disrupted their organizations and financial resources, deprived them of training grounds, and put them on the defensive. Further, the wars abroad have had the added bonus of acting as a magnet for terrorists previously gunning for the American homeland. Instead of fighting these violent extremists on United States soil, American heroes are able to kill them on external battlefields.
By treating the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 as an act of war rather than as an isolated criminal act President Bush made it clear that America was no “paper tiger” (Osama Bin Laden’s characterization of America in his 1996 Declaration of War Against the Americans). Those actively hostile to the United States and her interests would pay a price. Americans are indebted to the work of our country’s public servants who are fighting the terrorists abroad and securing the homeland from within. Indeed, America has flexed her muscles, come out victorious, and forced those with evil intentions to take notice. With all that the President and America’s valiant soldiers have done to keep us safe, comfortably focused on our own lives and insignificant plights, the least we can do as average citizens is recognize and thank them for their invaluable service to this great country. Thank you!
-Caroline May
September 12, 2008
Tags: Bush, election 2008, Iraq
