Hi Connie, > Hello Lowell, > I might qualify as the group spaz.. I voted for Bush and support his > decision to go to war in Iraq against terrorism. > > Conster - One of the brave ones
Well if so, that makes two of us. Although, especially given recent events, I'd say we did the right thing. For all the sturm and drang (or is that starm and drung?) about the PATRIOT Act, Gitmo, Jose Padilla, etc., this President has probably done more and probably will do more to increase freedom in this country than anyone since Reagan. I think if you go back in the archives to immediately (or soon) after 9/11/2001, you'll find me arguing that Bush faced a choice. Politically, he could go after the terrorists on foreign soil and "drain the swamp" of dictatorship, tyranny and despotism. Or he could clamp down on civil liberties here to "prevent" terrorist attacks on our soil. (Or he could do some combination of the two.) Doing "nothing" would be political suicide for him and his party. I think Bush chose, reasonably wisely, to do a combination of the two with the emphasis on the former. We aren't out of the woods, yet. We also probably aren't much "safer" than we were on 9/12/01 (I don't think there's much ANY President could have done after 9/11 to make a material difference in our safety). But we're heading in the right direction and it appears that Iraq was the linchpin. One other thing I have to give him credit for. He figured out back in 2002 that Iraq was the linchpin. By transforming Iraq, it appears that he's made our troop's sacrifice a catalyst for change in the broader Middle East. Imagine, 1500-2000 American lives, precious as they are, may be sufficient to set off the kind of cascading, caroming demands for freedom by the nearly 1 BILLION people in the countries over there. From the West Bank and Gaza to Lebanon, to Jordan and Egypt, to Saudi Arabia(!!) to Qatar and even Syria. Some of these will fail. Others will backslide, but the trajectory is clear and inevitable. Then, as Zarqawi was afraid of, the people will be too busy making money for "jihad". Or worse, the people will be so angry with terrorism that they will do everything they can to root it out (an effect we are beginning to see in Iraq and Lebanon). All in all, it could be a remarkable strategic victory which will elevate another huge group of people from poverty, despotism, and anger at the "other" into the modern, civilized world. Will there still be problems, set-backs, "defeats," and other assorted "really bad days?" Yes. But I think the path forward is now clear. The tide has turned. Iraq was this war's "Saratoga," "Gettysburg," "Midway," or "D Day". Tough days are ahead, but the end is clear. Lowell C. Savage It's the freedom, stupid! Gun control: tyrants' tool, fools' folly. _______________________________________________ Libnw mailing list Libnw@immosys.com List info and subscriber options: http://immosys.com/mailman/listinfo/libnw Archives: http://immosys.com/mailman//pipermail/libnw
