Bush Botching the War on Terror
There's a lot happening today. Bush is flailing and diddling as he tries to defend his failed presidency and his dismal record on terrorism and Iraq. Before I review Bush's record, let's start with Dan Froomkin of White House Briefing:
It's long past time for Americans to stop pretending that George W. Bush knows what he's doing. Let's make it as clear as possible. Bush had an obsession with Iraq from day one, even before he became president. He spent the first eight months largely ignoring Osama bin Laden and al Qaida despite being warned by the leaving Clinton Administration. For months, warning were sent up the line to Bush but they were ignored by Condi Rice and others. Finally, a serious briefing was arranged and Bush was warned on August 6, 2001 that Osama bin Laden was probably going to try a major terrorist attack inside the United States; Bush shrugged, told his briefers they had 'covered their asses' and took the rest of the day off on his ranch at Crawford (to go fishing, bike riding, or to clear brush—take your pick).
Within hours of the 9/11 attack, it was known that Osama bin Laden and al Qaida were probably behind the attack; Osama bin Laden was in Afghanistan. Within hours, Bush and Rumsfeld and probably Cheney were looking for ways they could go after Saddam Hussein in Iraq who had nothing to do with the 9/11 attack.
We went to Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban; we had a chance to get Osama bin Laden but it was muffed by the White House and Rumsfeld who very quickly were focusing on Iraq, more than a thousand miles in the other direction, which had nothing to do with al Qaida or 9/11 or capturing Osama bin Laden.
Nevertheless, with help from around the world, we had al Qaida on the run in 2002, though it appears Pakistan, our so-called ally, allowed some members of al Qaida to hide out in the Northwest Territories, including Osama bin Laden.
But Bush was focused on Iraq. A lot of talltales, including scary descriptions of mushroom clouds, got told in 2002 and 2003 to sell and justify the war against Iraq. But there were no WMDs, no nuclear program, no imminent threat, no al Qaida connection—just a deadbeat, defanged dictator thoroughly contained with his 'glory' days well behind him. The incompetent Rumsfeld was left in charge of Iraq with his experimental 'ideas' about how to wage war; Rumsfeld's biggest blunder was not sending enough troops and not planning for the aftermath but there were dozens of blunders that the generals and experts warned against but they were ignored.
One of the strangest blunders in Iraq was the failure of the Bush Administration to take out Zarqawi three times before the war actually began. Zarqawi was stuck in a remote hideout in Northeastern Iraq in the Kurdish area. The Kurds didn't want him there but they didn't have the resources to take out his group. We did and Bush did nothing. Zarqawi was dangerous but he was more a criminal thug than a politically or religiously motivated terrorist. By failing to get him, by failing to send enough troops to secure Iraq, Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld turned much of Iraq into a magnet for terrorists.
The worst problems in Iraq were in Anbar province, the Sunni area on the west side of the country. Paul Bremer, with help from Rumsfeld and the White House, screwed up the relationship with the Sunnis by firing almost all the Baathists and disbanding the army. In Iraq, there are very few jobs in the private sector which meant the Bush Administration shot itself in the foot by making enenies of most Sunnis who found themselves without a living. It was a ripe situation for an insurgency and a ripe situation for terrorists to come in. Here's an article from a couple of weeks ago from MSNBC:
The Sunnis of Iraq, who never had anything to do with al Qaida, have increasingly turned to al Qaida thanks to Bush's bungled policies in Iraq. It is a fiasco. It is a disaster. It was an utterly unnecessary development that could have been prevented by any number of moves. Bush, through his incompetence, has not check terrorism, he has thrown fertilizer on terrorism; al Qaida, after being on the run in 2002 and 2003, is making a comeback. And in Afghanistan, the Taliban is threatening to come back. Bush's actions have made the world and our country less safe. It's time to stop pretending that talking tough about terrorism is the same as knowing how to handle terrorism. It is time for Americans to have the facts and it is time for accountability.
President Bush's all-important terror-fighting credentials are taking a bruising this week.
Former President Clinton has revived charges that Bush didn't take the threat of terrorism seriously enough before Sept. 11.
And an intelligence report indicates that Bush's signature response to terror since the attacks -- invading Iraq -- has actually backfired.
The result: A potential erosion of Bush's strongest political suit -- at the worst possible moment for a White House already fearful of losing Republican majorities in Congress in November.
It's long past time for Americans to stop pretending that George W. Bush knows what he's doing. Let's make it as clear as possible. Bush had an obsession with Iraq from day one, even before he became president. He spent the first eight months largely ignoring Osama bin Laden and al Qaida despite being warned by the leaving Clinton Administration. For months, warning were sent up the line to Bush but they were ignored by Condi Rice and others. Finally, a serious briefing was arranged and Bush was warned on August 6, 2001 that Osama bin Laden was probably going to try a major terrorist attack inside the United States; Bush shrugged, told his briefers they had 'covered their asses' and took the rest of the day off on his ranch at Crawford (to go fishing, bike riding, or to clear brush—take your pick).
Within hours of the 9/11 attack, it was known that Osama bin Laden and al Qaida were probably behind the attack; Osama bin Laden was in Afghanistan. Within hours, Bush and Rumsfeld and probably Cheney were looking for ways they could go after Saddam Hussein in Iraq who had nothing to do with the 9/11 attack.
We went to Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban; we had a chance to get Osama bin Laden but it was muffed by the White House and Rumsfeld who very quickly were focusing on Iraq, more than a thousand miles in the other direction, which had nothing to do with al Qaida or 9/11 or capturing Osama bin Laden.
Nevertheless, with help from around the world, we had al Qaida on the run in 2002, though it appears Pakistan, our so-called ally, allowed some members of al Qaida to hide out in the Northwest Territories, including Osama bin Laden.
But Bush was focused on Iraq. A lot of talltales, including scary descriptions of mushroom clouds, got told in 2002 and 2003 to sell and justify the war against Iraq. But there were no WMDs, no nuclear program, no imminent threat, no al Qaida connection—just a deadbeat, defanged dictator thoroughly contained with his 'glory' days well behind him. The incompetent Rumsfeld was left in charge of Iraq with his experimental 'ideas' about how to wage war; Rumsfeld's biggest blunder was not sending enough troops and not planning for the aftermath but there were dozens of blunders that the generals and experts warned against but they were ignored.
One of the strangest blunders in Iraq was the failure of the Bush Administration to take out Zarqawi three times before the war actually began. Zarqawi was stuck in a remote hideout in Northeastern Iraq in the Kurdish area. The Kurds didn't want him there but they didn't have the resources to take out his group. We did and Bush did nothing. Zarqawi was dangerous but he was more a criminal thug than a politically or religiously motivated terrorist. By failing to get him, by failing to send enough troops to secure Iraq, Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld turned much of Iraq into a magnet for terrorists.
The worst problems in Iraq were in Anbar province, the Sunni area on the west side of the country. Paul Bremer, with help from Rumsfeld and the White House, screwed up the relationship with the Sunnis by firing almost all the Baathists and disbanding the army. In Iraq, there are very few jobs in the private sector which meant the Bush Administration shot itself in the foot by making enenies of most Sunnis who found themselves without a living. It was a ripe situation for an insurgency and a ripe situation for terrorists to come in. Here's an article from a couple of weeks ago from MSNBC:
A new military intelligence report offers up the most pessimistic assessment yet of military prospects for al-Anbar province, the vast no-man's land in western Iraq that has seen some of the fiercest fighting of the war — from hard-hit Fallujah to the provincial capital Ramadi, which the U.S. military has never controlled.
A top secret report by a Marine Corps intelligence officer says there's no chance the U.S. military can end insurgent violence in al-Anbar, and no viable government institutions or chance for political progress anytime soon.
Even more ominous, military officials say al-Qaida in Iraq has rushed to fill that political vacuum. Military officials tell NBC News al-Qaida's also recruiting increasing numbers of Iraqi Sunnis into the terrorist group.
The Sunnis of Iraq, who never had anything to do with al Qaida, have increasingly turned to al Qaida thanks to Bush's bungled policies in Iraq. It is a fiasco. It is a disaster. It was an utterly unnecessary development that could have been prevented by any number of moves. Bush, through his incompetence, has not check terrorism, he has thrown fertilizer on terrorism; al Qaida, after being on the run in 2002 and 2003, is making a comeback. And in Afghanistan, the Taliban is threatening to come back. Bush's actions have made the world and our country less safe. It's time to stop pretending that talking tough about terrorism is the same as knowing how to handle terrorism. It is time for Americans to have the facts and it is time for accountability.
posted by Craig at 2:46 PM
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