Word

Off to a late start today, but these three posts are about as good as it gets: Timshel summarizes the lunacy of Bush's nuclear policy: threaten North Korea with a smackdown, but ignore the atomic 7-Eleven in Pakistan. Then I hit Atrios and Kos: both point out the fallacy of Bush being strong on National Security.

The fact is that Bush and his ilk are a disaster when it comes to national security. As the above posts note, they ignored the threat of terrorism prior to 9/11--hell, Dubya spent another MONTH on vacation AFTER BEING TOLD SPECIFICALLY that Middle Eastern terrorists were planning to use planes to attack high-profile targets here in the US. FBI field agents postulated CORRECTLY that the World Trade Center towers were a likely target. Bush's reaction to the attacks was to adopt a deer-in-the-headlights look, then beat a hasty retreat to Nebraska. Later, he and his followers cynically used the event to embark on a national security disaster--the occupation of Iraq, which has NOT made the world any safer, and which continues claim lives and tax the resources of our military.

The latest news from Spain indicates that the bombings in Madrid were the work of Al Qaeda. They seem to have weathered the half-assed operation Bush launched in Afghanistan. At this point, the capture or killing of bin Laden won't make any difference, tactics-wise. Osama is merely a rallying figure--the fact that he eluded death or capture for two years and counting is an inspiration to those wackos, who probably view this as "proof" that their perverted viewpoints are valid.

Funny though, that Bush once again feels the need to up the ante in the search for bin Laden--just in time for the election cycle.

Bush has consistently placed politics above the genuine security needs of the nation. He and his followers will lie, and argue to the contrary, but the record is clear. The United States--and the world--is decidedly less safe as a result of the actions Bush has taken in regards to international affairs. His policy of being a global Buford T. Pusser--minus the fact that Pusser at least knew a little about his patrol zone--has resulted in needless death and continued destruction.

A different direction MUST be taken.