Bush's Better World

Nevertheless, FBI information since that time indicates suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks including recent surveillance of the federal building in New York.
- August 6, 2001 National Security Briefing titled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US” Declassified in April 10, 2004. http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB116/index.htm

As the new administration approaches, the old one is busily patting itself on the back for all that is has done for America. Flacks and hacks are all over the print media, TV, talk radio and the blogosphere talking up the accomplishments of the latest Bush administration. Their focus, now that the economy has lost the equivalent of all the jobs in Missouri, has turned to Bush’s accomplishments in the national security and foreign policy arenas. Typical has been this article in the New York Post (although it could have appeared in any red state publication) “Bush’s better world; his overlooked success on Foreign Policy and Security.” (Peter Brooks, New York Post 01/11/2009 http://www.nypost.com/seven/01112009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/bushs_better_world_149578.htm?page=0)

According to Brooks, Bush has kept us safe since 9/11. “It not just by chance that there has not been another terrorist attack here at home since 9/11.” You can almost hear the fax machine from the White House press office humming in the background spitting out this talking point.

Brooks tells us Bush has stopped repeated, credible attempts to harm the US. Evidence of this is the lack of attack. This statement is pure “post hoc” logic – after this, therefore because of this. This lack of attack might have less to do with the terrorist’s fear of Michael Chertoff and the TSA, and more to do with the decision by the terrorists to strike elsewhere, such as Madrid, London, and Baghdad.

Brooks highlights a long list of plots against the US, foiled by the never ending vigilance of the Bush administration. Unfortunately for his argument each of these plots has been discredited as either idle thinking or physically impossible. A good example is the plot to blow up Kennedy Airport by igniting a fuel line. The plotters were going to ignite a fuel line some distance from the airport and it was going to burn like a fuse, ignite a gas tank and blow up the entire airport.
First off - Kennedy Airport – big place. Second with all that Jet A fuel flowing, one would think that there would be at least one safety shutoff valve in the place to protect us all from a clumsy smoker. Finally the “plotters” were going to light the fuse some distance from the airport, which fact, alone makes this impossible to do.

Yet each of the plots, no matter how implausible, has been given the same threat level of a 9/11. By giving each of these plots the potential of another 9/11 the administration risks crying wolf. We, and possibly the government will tune out any real warning in the same way we ignore the endless droning of the airport loudspeaker telling us the threat level is orange and you can’t park at the curb.

The administration has trotted so many of these unlikely foiled plots out, that one has to wonder if there even has been a credible plot since 9/11. What the Bush apologist don’t discuss is how the administration reacted before 9/11 when faced with an actual credible plot.

In her testimony to the 9/11 Commission, Secretary of State Rice discussed a long list of evidence that something specific was in play. On August 6, when shown the memo “Bin Laden Determined to Strike US” the President did what we have since learned is his habit when faced with a crisis – he returned to his vacation.

After 9/11, the administration did two things it does well, avoid accountability and blame Bill Clinton. Despite the repeated statements of Bush’s flacks that the US treated terrorism as a low level law enforcement issue, Secretary Rice testified before the 9/11 Commission that the Bush administration had, in fact, continued President Clinton’s covert policy of actions against Al Qaeda. Many of those actions, which pre-dated 9/11 in their inception and execution – such as disruption of the terrorist financial networks - are now touted as steps taken by Bush since 9/11.

The fact of the matter is, Bush and his administration, had credible evidence that a major attack was going to take place and they did nothing. 9/11 happened on their watch and it was their task to protect us.

They failed.

Bush has never taken responsibility for that failure, and he never will. He would have left us a better world had he exercised the same vigilance before 9/11 that he claims to have exercised since.

We all wish that he had.