Bush's
War on Terror protects America
In
the midst of deep national shock and grief,
President George W. Bush boldly declared
a war on global terrorism. On Sept. 20,
2001, in an address to a joint session
of Congress and the American people he
clearly stated, "Our war on terror
begins with Al Qaeda, but it does not
end there. It will not end until every
terrorist group of global reach has been
found, stopped and defeated. Americans
should not expect one battle but a lengthy
campaign, unlike any other we have seen.
Every nation in every region now has a
decision to make. Either you are with
us, or you are with the terrorists. From
this day forward, any nation that continues
to harbor or support terrorism will be
regarded by the United States as a hostile
regime.'
At
that moment, Bush provided a measure of
comfort and security to the devastated
families and fearful citizens of America
while simultaneously broadcasting a conspicuous
message to the perpetrators and those
of their ilk world-wide — their
days of heinous savagery and lawlessness
were about to end.
Bush
continued by saying that our nation and
this generation has been given the mission
of "lift[ing] a dark threat of violence
from our people and our future... We will
not tire, we will not falter and we will
not fail.' Bush also said, "The course
of the conflict is not known, yet its
outcome is certain' and ultimately, through
American strength and resolve, global
terrorism would be defeated, just as communism
had been defeated in the Cold War.
In
accordance with his word, Bush ordered
the invasion of Afghanistan. The United
States military led an international coalition,
pummeling the rogue Taliban government.
In spectacular fashion, the coalition
delivered the opportunity for a free Afghanistan
within three weeks. Three years of struggle
has wrought untold advances and accomplishments,
including recent historic elections and
three-quarters of Al Qaeda members being
brought to justice. But where is bin Laden?
Many believe he dead, considering that
he has not appeared publicly for over
three years. Others contend that the U.S.
has lost its focus in the war on terror
by allowing him to escape. To the contrary
— coalition troops are still in
Afghanistan working to root out terrorism.
The next front in the global war on terror
quickly became Iraq.
Deposing
Saddam Hussein and affecting regime change
in Iraq was a policy of President Bill
Clinton's administration, however, it
never took place under his command. Before
Clinton left office in 2000, The Center
for Terrorism Research (www.terrorism.com)
published an expert analysis aimed at
advising the new president regarding U.S.
policy to combat terrorism. Unless the
recommendations were implemented, the
U.S. would remain in a reactive, hostage-type
position.
Tragically,
after only eight months in office, Bush
was forcefully thrust into defensively
implementing what is commonly called "The
Bush Doctrine' of preemption, in other
words, destroy the enemy before they destroy
us. No president in U.S. history has ever
had to face an enemy of this magnitude.
However, all succeeding presidents will
regularly deal with this adversary —
precisely the reason why our upcoming
presidential election is so crucial.
Bush
and Senator John F. Kerry have vastly
different and distinctly obvious worldviews
regarding the role of America, national
security and foreign policy. If both men's
perspectives are carefully and honestly
analyzed in a historic context of their
respective words and actions, it becomes
evident that one man's approach will strengthen
America's security, thus averting more
terrorist attacks on U.S. soil; the other
man's approach will weaken America's security,
thus inviting more terrorist attacks on
U.S. soil. Your vote will determine our
security for generations to come.
Michelle
Gomez is a third year political science
and journalism major at CSULB.
