There was once a series of presidential debates during which the principals involved expressed two remarkably different attitudes towards U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts.
One candidate said that the United States should aggressively lead the way in favor of foreign intervention. "We have a fundamental choice to make, are we going to step up to the plate as a nation, the way we did after World War II, the way that generation of heroes said, 'OK, the United States is going to be the leader.'"
The other candidate favored a far more restrained approach to U.S. involvement in foreign affairs, "If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road," he said.
One could be forgiven for mistakenly attributing the first quote to Hillary Clinton and incorrectly ascribing the second quote to Donald Trump.
Educated guesses perhaps, but still erroneous.
You might be surprised that America’s role in foreign conflict was prominently discussed in the 2000 presidential debates; when Al Gore strongly supported American interventionism — while George W Bush staunchly advocated for a much more restrained, judicious approach when committing American troops.
Unfortunately, some pundits on the Right have joined liberal Democrats in unfairly maligning former President George W. Bush, as being a war monger for invading Afghanistan — and as a leader all-too-eager to send our troops into never ending quagmires.
After a week of heart-breaking, nausea-inducing images of the unfolding tragic epoch in Afghanistan, three things are now finally clear:
- First, the U.S. craven betrayal of our allies in Afghanistan will lead to a horrific, massive, and immeasurable loss of life, mutilations, rapes, and torture.
- Second, the globe will now become a far more dangerous place, especially for those of us in the United States.
- Third, Bush 43 was right to invade Afghanistan and attempt to promote a democratic form of government there.
It's been almost 20 years since the evil attacks on our country by the 9/11 hijackers.
The Taliban regime cntrolling Afghanistan allowed al-Qaida to use their country as their home base of operations. Osama Bin Laden and Mullah Omar supported one another.
Bin Laden swore an oath of allegiance to Mullah Omar, and 2,996 Americans were slaughtered on Tuesday morning Sept. 11, 2001.
"W" did not run for president because he wanted to invade other countries.
Indeed, if you look at the 2000 presidential debates, and those of 2004, his answers regarding education and small business empowerment were far more passionate and detailed than when he was sparring about foreign policy.
But in 2001, the president had no choice.
So many innocent lives lost and families destroyed, the economy almost collapsed.
Terrorists thought it was open season on the United States.
You had a large country with enormous natural resources providing cover and protection for one of the most powerful terrorists groups globally; violent criminals bent on destroying Western civilization and the U.S. in particular.
In 2001, President Bush assembled a formidable international coalition including cooperation from the Russian government against al-Qaida and the Taliban.
Military victory was swift and resounding but not the final happy ending many of us came to expect.
Sadly, far many more lives would be lost defending Afghanistan and the right to live democratically. President Bush made the right choice nonetheless.
A regime harboring and permitting a terrorist-behemoth like al-Qaida to prosper could not be allowed to stand. Even once the Taliban lost power, there was no guarantee that another dictatorship wouldn’t promptly take over the country and welcome back al-Qaida once the coalition left.
The idea — being promulgated by pseudo-intellectuals disguised as pundits — that the U.S. could just invade Afghanistan and leave within a few months, and still guarantee our safety, is just pure fantasyland dreck.
The Bush administration spent almost eight years investing in Afghanistan to lift up its people and fight terrorism. Of course, it was far more challenging and costly than anyone anticipated, but it was the correct and justifiable approach.
The Obama administration spent eight years reversing George W. Bush's policies in Afghanistan, while even arranging for a prisoner exchange of Guantanamo (Gitmo) detainees who are now the modern leaders of the new Taliban.
No serious person believes that the Afghanistan catastrophe would have occurred if Donald Trump was still president.
The horrors in Afghanistan are occurring because the Biden administration instituted President Barack Obama’s foolish concept that you can reason with terrorists bent on killing you, me, and all those who disagree with them.
Our world was a safer place when Bush 43 was the one in charge of dealing with bloodthirsty leaders of foreign countries.
We owe him that recognition and a lot more.
"W" was — and still is — right.
Nicholas Chamberas has advised good government advocacy groups, elected officials and political candidates on public policy matters as well as having served as a senior adviser on several prominent New York City campaigns. He holds a degree in Political Science and a Juris Doctor. Read Nicholas Chamberas Reports — More Here.
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