Thank God we've got Bush rather than Carter
Dec. 13, 2001, 6:51PM
By TONY LENTINISo former President Jimmy Carter has spoken out against military tribunals for terrorists and the detention of suspects in the Sept. 11 attacks. Perhaps a brief history lesson is in order: Carter -- though a good man -- was a lousy president whose administration was marked by weakness, appeasement and malaise. He lost Iran, lost our embassy and diplomats in Tehran, weakened our military, gutted our intelligence services and fumbled the economy.
Contrast that record with George W. Bush's. Bush immediately recognized the War on Terrorism as the defining mission of his presidency. He simply and effectively underscored the moral imperative of this war by branding the enemy as "evildoers," a label chillingly confirmed by Osama bin Laden in the videotape released Thursday by the Pentagon. Bush and his team of seasoned professionals (once criticized as "retreads" by liberals) devised a strategy applying the full might of America's unparalleled military machine to seek out and destroy terrorists everywhere and the governments that sponsor or harbor them.
A more timid chief executive might have limited his response to lobbing a few cruise missiles at some training camps, but President Bush's message was clear: The United States will conduct total war on terror, on our own terms, on a global scale, and other nations will not have the luxury of standing on the sidelines. "You are either with us, or with the terrorists," he said. And he meant it.
Pakistan, with its nuclear arsenal and common border with Afghanistan, was given no choice in the matter. It would serve as a staging area for the war on al-Qaida and the Taliban, and militant Pakistanis -- both within the government and in the streets -- would be kept in check.
The war would be pursued on a timetable and in a manner of our choosing. The administration launched a brilliant diplomatic, economic, public relations and military offensive. Despite the critics at home and abroad, they kept their eye on the ball and moved it forward, step by deliberate step.
They have refused to compromise on important principles, such as not allowing Taliban Mullah Omar to go free as part of any surrender agreement. They have taken common-sense steps to protect the American people against further attacks, detaining and questioning those who fit the terrorist profile, clamping down on illegal immigrants and setting the stage for military tribunals, undeterred by political correctness. They have waved the flag, praised our heroes, mourned our dead and employed every symbol to keep the public motivated and informed as to why we fight. They have managed the news media to protect our troops and deny the enemy a propaganda platform.
They have thoroughly defeated al-Qaida and the Taliban in two months' time with minimal American casualties; yet they continue to remind us that the task in Afghanistan will not be complete until bin Laden, Omar and their henchmen are all brought to justice. They remind us, too, that Afghanistan is by no means the end game of the War on Terror.
Democrats, liberals and their friends in the news media made a point of denigrating President Bush's intellect and legitimacy throughout the presidential campaign, the election and the first eight months of his presidency. Even today, many of these liberal elites will at most give Bush backhanded praise. Bob's Note: Don't forget that these DEMONCRAP LIBERALS were the very same ones who during AlGore's failed run for the presidency against GW Bush WOULD NOT ALLOW THE MILITARY'S VOTES TO BE COUNTED! And now these selfsame ASSHOLES are defending the enemy by attacking the reasonable use of military tribunals to protect America's secrets. And they are in addition pushing to give the terrorists the same rights as US citizens! Just who in hell are they working for?
But the American people overwhelmingly approve of the president and his conduct of the war. That's because they know he fully understands what Jimmy Carter and his fellow whiners and complainers can't seem to grasp: Our very civilization is under attack by a foe every bit as dangerous as the Nazis, only with less to lose.
Unless we want to walk around for the rest of our lives with targets painted on our foreheads, we must take the offensive -- ruthlessly, brutally, efficiently. And we can't quit until we have achieved total victory.
President Bush gets it.
Lentini, a West Point graduate, is an executive with a local oil and gas company.