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thedrifter
01-21-09, 12:23 PM
One Thing For Which I’d Like To Thank President Bush
Posted By McQ

Today President George W Bush becomes an ex-President. And much of the nation and most of the world will rejoice. Whether you agree with those who are rejoicing or not really doesn't matter - those are the facts.

Frankly, I think George Bush, is at heart, an honest and honorable man who was challenged by some extraordinary situations and did his best to meet their challenge. He, like most mere mortals, fell short in some areas and many right now want to trivialize and minimize the good he did during his administration. That, obviously, is their right as Americans. Politics is not bean bag.

But I, for one, do have something for which I think we should thank Mr. Bush. Debra Saunders touches on it and almost gets it right in her column in the SF Chronicle:

Osama bin Laden once told Time magazine that the U.S. withdrawal from Somalia after the murder of 18 U.S. troops on a humanitarian mission made him realize "more than before that the American soldier was a paper tiger and after a few blows ran in defeat." Members of al Qaeda have told intelligence officials that they never thought that Washington would respond to the 9/11 attacks as ferociously as Bush responded. They expected a few bombs to be dropped, no boots on the ground, a swift withdrawal if casualties mounted - the usual short-attention span foreign policy that warped Lebanon, the Persian Gulf War, Somalia, the African embassy bombings and the attack on the destroyer Cole.

Bush showed America's enemies a country that does not retreat in fear, does not bomb with impunity, and most important, does not desert civilians or foreign governments that trust us. If you think that doesn't matter, look at Libya, which disarmed its weapons program. And see how much easier Obama's presidency will be, because Bush kept the faith.

Osama bin Laden may live, most likely quivering in a cave. But no one thinks America is a paper tiger anymore.

I would amend her take in a very important way. No one, with any sense, thinks the American military is a paper tiger anymore. Take note of the fact that the OBL quote talks about the "American soldier", not "America". Pumped up by the "paper tiger" rhetoric of the North Vietnamese and what they witnessed in all of those places Saunders mentions as well as their belief in America's moral decadence, al Qaeda was sure that its preconceived notions about both the country and its military would be born out as they mounted their hate-driven attack of September 11th. Had any other man been in the White House - especially his opponent or predecessor - it is possible that Osama bin Laden's beliefs might have been validated. As a country we'd certainly not demonstrated the heart or will to do what was necessary to confront past evils. Why, thought bin Laden, would this be any different?

That is where I disagree with Ms. Saunders, one of the very few sane media voices on the left coast. It isn't so much that Saunders is pointed in the wrong direction about the subject. Instead she misses a fine point.

For the past 7 years, the American soldier (and in this case the term is used as an overarching term for our military) has been given the opportunity to show the world he isn't nor has he ever been a "paper tiger". That is because, and this is very important, we had a leader who had the political will to do what was necessary to confront and defeat the enemy.

Our military has proven it will stand toe-to-toe with any bad guy for as long as it takes and defeat him – if given the opportunity and support necessary to do it.

Our military met an enemy in a place he called his "central front" and we beat him. We are still there and he's withdrawn and gone to a more promising fight. His central front is now our newest democracy. I don't want to sound too Pollyannaish about Iraq. We are still seeing slow but steady progress there, but the end is in sight. And no sane person would argue we did everything right – obviously we haven't. But we never quit. That includes all aspects of our effort – diplomatic, military, governmental, and cultural. And, admittedly, there was a bit of luck involved as well. But as a well-known battlefield commander once said, winners make their own luck. The bottom line, militarily: when the dust settled in Iraq, there was only one combatant standing – and it wasn't al Qaeda.

So the demonstration of our military's will and ability in Iraq and the continuing demonstration in Afghanistan has changed the perception of the US military among those who thought of it as a "paper tiger" forever. Bin Laden, if he is alive and, as Saunders says, 'quivering in a cave' in Pakistan, will never again say such a thing about the American soldier if he hopes to be taken seriously.

Despite the whining from the left about our reputation in the world, the world learned in the last 8 years that when we commit ourselves to something, you can take it to the bank that we're going to finish the job. Most rational men would rather be respected than liked. Respect brings with it many more benefits (and provides more deterrents) than just being merely liked. Right now, throughout the world, whether they'll admit it or not, we have much more respect among nations now than we did 8 years ago. That's especially true among those who might have considered confronting us under different circumstances.

At least that's true until about noon today. But frankly, after noon, your guess is as good as mine about what the future holds.

That brings us to the second "paper tiger" and, unfortunately, the most problematic. As you've figured out by now, it has nothing to do with the military. That more problematic "paper tiger" is political will. The mistake bin Laden made was lumping our military in with the real 'paper tiger' problem – the political will to do what is necessary to guarantee our national security and carry it out to completion. Since Viet Nam, that hasn't been something we should brag about. Saunders outlines the bi-partisan failures pretty well - from Lebanon to the Cole. Those failures, as much as anything, helped create the attack of 9/11.

George W Bush, for all his faults and failures, stepped up and demonstrated the political will necessary to badly wound the perception that our nation is a "paper tiger". Whether you agree or not with the decision to go into Iraq, you can't fault Bush's commitment to the military, his desire to support them until they could win and his faith that they would. As political will here eroded when things began to sour in Iraq, he remained steadfast in both his commitment and his support.

But times change, and so do leaders. And while I would love to agree with Deb Saunders that "no one thinks that America is a paper tiger anymore", I'd argue that's a very perishable commodity. My intuition tells me that it will again be tested and soon. It is the way of the world. There is nothing the enemies of freedom (and America) would love more than to see that America has again lost the political will to do what is right and necessary to defend itself. No doubt they now agree that they were mistaken about the US military being a paper tiger. However they also know that they can turn the US military into a non-factor if they can just target and destroy America's political will to do the hard and sometimes costly but necessary things in its own defense.

My abiding hope and prayer, this inaugural day, is that Debra Saunders belief is, in fact, correct, and that when tested, our new President will meet the challenge and do what is necessary and right to defend this nation – and have the political will to see it through. To that end, I wish him nothing but success and God's blessings. Because failure in that arena could have deadly consequences for all of us.

Thank you Mr. Bush for making those who would challenge us think twice about doing so on your watch. And Mr. Obama? If there is only one thing you take away as a positive lesson from the Bush administration, let it be the understanding that enemies don't respect weakness, they only respect strength, commitment and will. Be assured the military will do its job. Here's hoping you will continue to demonstrate the same political will to the world that George Bush has.

Ellie

thedrifter
01-21-09, 12:23 PM
Bush showed U.S. is no paper tiger <br />
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Debra J. Saunders <br />
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Sunday, January 18, 2009 <br />
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From the day President Bush took office, the long knives were out for him - in ways they will not (and should...