I appeared on CNN yesterday to discuss President Obama's CIA speech, and his decision to release CIA torture memos. You can watch the clip here - and make sure to watch all the way to the end, because the debate gets into a historical question about 9/11 that now has more relevance for American foreign policy than ever.
As you'll see, GOP strategist Cheri Jacobus claims that President Bush "kept us safe for nine years," and President Obama is "a very popular president whose popular personally going in and sort of riding that wave of optimism." Yes, that's right - according to the GOP, Barack Obama is "riding a wave" created by George W. Bush.
Jacobus, of course, refuses to answer my question about whether Bush "kept us safe" on 9/11. That was a day that saw the worst terrorist attack in American history - an attack that the Bush administration was pretty explicitly warned about in memos and warnings. And it's not just 9/11. The Bush administration didn't keep us safe during the anthrax attacks, and it's Iraq invasion didn't keep us safe, either (and that's according to our intelligence agencies).
I'll admit I was a bit incessant with my question, but I just feel we can't let the Right try to fabricate a storyline and revise history about the Bush administration - and more generally, Bush administration policy - "keeping us safe," especially not right now. With Obama trying to rebuild our diplomatic ties with the rest of the world and trying to engage some of our adversaries, the Right is already mounting a fearmongering campaign claiming that such a shift from Bush-ish isolationism will endanger America. And to validate their hysteria, they insist that Bushism made us safe - and any deviation from Bushism will endanger us.
That's why it is so important to constantly inject facts into these foreign policy debates: Because if Obama keeps trying to fundamentally reshape American foreign policy on more progressive terms, the right-wing hysteria is only going to get more intense. We've got to prevent that hysteria from getting traction.
If we are hit by OBL , or al Queda it will be because GWB did not carry out his job as Commander in Chief.
But if you can get funding and men who are willling to die to carry out a mission, I think you are going to be hard to stop. I'm surprized we haven't been hit more.
The FBI CIA and NSA and everyone else must be doing a bang up job. That and we really do assimilate other cultures better than a lot of other countries
Other than some presidents make more people mad at us, I don't think it matters who is in the White House as far as getting attacked goes.
Jim Vait
Bethel, Alaska
Bush threw out all intelligence from the Clinton era and refused to allow Richard Clarke to bring his information to ANYBODY inside his administration. Clarke had been at his position for 30 years, 5 Presidents and had no alterior motive than to protect this country.
We haven't had any more attacks because they didn't want to. All our borders have been wide open, we can't even expect NTS to protect weapons from being boarded onto planes, chemical plants are not protected, our electrical grid has been hacked into and now today, a plane's information has been hacked, although they say no important information was breeched.
This whole Republican attitude of Bush keeping us safe SINCE 9-11 is crap.
Have we had another terrorist attack in our country since 9-11?? NO - so we are safer!!
Thank you George Bush
How did we get attacked in the first place on 9-11??
Any your notion of safe is fake, we have more enemies today that we had before. Most of the world hate us and the other half does not hate but would not move to support us or help us. All because of the way we handled the war after 9-11. Thanks George Bush for nine years building up reasons for radicals to enlist more people under their cause. Thanks George Bush for driving away most of the allies we could have gathered with a little more intelligence.
And what are 9 years? How do you know how long they planned 9-11? How long they took to infiltrate and how long they waited? Take your nine years of safety and shove it because I feel much more in danger now that ever with all the enemies George Bush enpowered with his failure. Above all, thanks George Bush for 9-11. It was his watch and he failed us.
It's not about "getting it" it's about proving it beyond making a simple statement. You prove your strategy works, we implement it...you say it worked and then act like everyone who doesn't agree is stupid and you're rightfully considered a lunatic.
And for the sake of staving off further argument, it is not about left versus right.
This isn't high-school football.
GWB was informed about the likelihood of an attack by the previous administration. Rice testified to this effect in the SC (don't take my word for it - look it up). But yet this magical ability to protect us "since 9/11" didn't come into play until 3000 Americans were dead?
And yet, you thank this man? And are convinced it's everybody else who doesn't "get it"? Even if you are 100% right and they actively protected us after 9/11...is it not unforgiveable to not be protecting us since day 1?
When you or any revisionist historian can answer that, then perhaps we can ignore logical fallacies and just make up history as we go along.
I still do not understand the manic need to defend Bush. Why?
They chose to ignore all the warning and Richard Clarke begging for a meeting but also others such as John O'Nell..who was being persecuted by his boos at the FBI another loser and lying incompetent...Louis Freeh...
Bush and Rice let that happen is was gross dereliction of duty and incomptence as well as their arrogance that damned nearly 3,000 people...