ksgbobo
12-19-2008, 10:44
I came across this editorial this morning, and its a good one.
No Such Luck
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, December 18, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Leadership: President Bush reminded us this week of our triumphs in the war on terror despite critics who sought to deny him the tools. He's kept us safe since 9/11 and says luck had nothing to do with it.
With scarcely a month left in his presidency, the president on Wednesday took aim at critics who maintain that the lack of another terrorist attack on American soil had little to do with his leadership and skill. According to them, we've just been lucky.
In a speech at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., Bush noted that in the aftermath of the attacks on Washington, D.C., and New York, no one predicted another attack would not occur on his watch. Another attack has not occurred, and as he told the military audience, "It's not a matter of luck."
No, indeed. The Bush administration inaugurated the Department of Homeland Security, shepherded the Patriot Act into law and ran a surveillance program of foreign terrorists and their domestic contacts that proved the price of liberty is truly eternal vigilance. Democrats fought these and other tools in the war on terror.
Information-sharing facilitated by the Patriot Act was critical to dismantling terror cells in Portland, Ore., Lackawanna, N.Y., and Virginia. The act's information-sharing provisions assisted the prosecution in San Diego of those involved in an al-Qaida drugs-for-weapons plot involving Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.
Even the New York Times, in exposing the NSA surveillance program, acknowledged that the program had been successful in disrupting terrorist plots. It cited the case of Ohio trucker Lyman Harris, who pleaded guilty in 2003 to charges of supporting al-Qaida by plotting to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge.
These are a few of the successes that we know about. Shortly after 9/11, Bush said the public might never hear of our successes — partly because we might not know ourselves what attacks were prevented by our actions, but also because the means and techniques would have to be kept secret from our enemies.
In his War College speech, Bush did mention a few successes. He named an attempt to bomb fuel tanks at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, the plot to blow up jets bound for the East Coast, a plan to attack a shopping mall in the Chicago area, and another to blow up the tallest building in Los Angeles.
Democrats fought the Patriot Act and surveillance of our enemies, as well as the interrogation of captured jihadists at Guantanamo. It was the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, the first high-value detainee taken by the CIA in 2002 and Osama bin Laden's chief of operations, that led us to 9/11 accomplice Ramzi Binalshibh. Interrogations of both terrorists then led us to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11.
Bush took the war to the enemy, deciding it was better to fight in the streets of Baghdad than Boston. Bush's efforts have won great victories and wrought huge changes in the Middle East, not the least of which have been the liberation of 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan.
His actions led to the establishment of democracy in two of the most brutal dictatorships on earth while routing al-Qaida in Iraq and pushing the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, sparing millions from torture, oppression and mass graves. Don't just fight the alligators, he figured, drain the swamp in which they thrive.
Bush's post-9/11 actions may have prevented many more devastating acts of terrorism, but we may never know. "While there's room for an honest and healthy debate about the decisions I made — and there's plenty of debate — there can be no debate about the results in keeping America safe," he said.
Critics should ask our terrorist foes how lucky they feel lately.
No Such Luck
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, December 18, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Leadership: President Bush reminded us this week of our triumphs in the war on terror despite critics who sought to deny him the tools. He's kept us safe since 9/11 and says luck had nothing to do with it.
With scarcely a month left in his presidency, the president on Wednesday took aim at critics who maintain that the lack of another terrorist attack on American soil had little to do with his leadership and skill. According to them, we've just been lucky.
In a speech at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., Bush noted that in the aftermath of the attacks on Washington, D.C., and New York, no one predicted another attack would not occur on his watch. Another attack has not occurred, and as he told the military audience, "It's not a matter of luck."
No, indeed. The Bush administration inaugurated the Department of Homeland Security, shepherded the Patriot Act into law and ran a surveillance program of foreign terrorists and their domestic contacts that proved the price of liberty is truly eternal vigilance. Democrats fought these and other tools in the war on terror.
Information-sharing facilitated by the Patriot Act was critical to dismantling terror cells in Portland, Ore., Lackawanna, N.Y., and Virginia. The act's information-sharing provisions assisted the prosecution in San Diego of those involved in an al-Qaida drugs-for-weapons plot involving Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.
Even the New York Times, in exposing the NSA surveillance program, acknowledged that the program had been successful in disrupting terrorist plots. It cited the case of Ohio trucker Lyman Harris, who pleaded guilty in 2003 to charges of supporting al-Qaida by plotting to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge.
These are a few of the successes that we know about. Shortly after 9/11, Bush said the public might never hear of our successes — partly because we might not know ourselves what attacks were prevented by our actions, but also because the means and techniques would have to be kept secret from our enemies.
In his War College speech, Bush did mention a few successes. He named an attempt to bomb fuel tanks at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, the plot to blow up jets bound for the East Coast, a plan to attack a shopping mall in the Chicago area, and another to blow up the tallest building in Los Angeles.
Democrats fought the Patriot Act and surveillance of our enemies, as well as the interrogation of captured jihadists at Guantanamo. It was the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, the first high-value detainee taken by the CIA in 2002 and Osama bin Laden's chief of operations, that led us to 9/11 accomplice Ramzi Binalshibh. Interrogations of both terrorists then led us to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11.
Bush took the war to the enemy, deciding it was better to fight in the streets of Baghdad than Boston. Bush's efforts have won great victories and wrought huge changes in the Middle East, not the least of which have been the liberation of 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan.
His actions led to the establishment of democracy in two of the most brutal dictatorships on earth while routing al-Qaida in Iraq and pushing the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, sparing millions from torture, oppression and mass graves. Don't just fight the alligators, he figured, drain the swamp in which they thrive.
Bush's post-9/11 actions may have prevented many more devastating acts of terrorism, but we may never know. "While there's room for an honest and healthy debate about the decisions I made — and there's plenty of debate — there can be no debate about the results in keeping America safe," he said.
Critics should ask our terrorist foes how lucky they feel lately.