For too long, the GOP has falsely positioned itself as tough in national security, high in patriotism, and lately, the real Americans. The Democratic Party on the other hand, grapples daily, with little success the stigma of weak in national security; not really committed to the “American values.” Unfortunately, this is independent of clear evidences to the contrary. For too long, the GOP has ran and won elections not on their vision for the country, but by merely raising the terror alert at the appropriate time, and heavily terrified Americans scurry for cover. Ironically, The GOP has done more to strategically endanger the national security of our country than the Democratic Party. For instance, the war against Saddam Hussein was a war of choice by the Bush Administration to deplete resources from the effort to hunt down Osama bin Laden. It is on record that President Bush declined request by Army commanders for additional marines to help seal off the exit route of Bin Laden at the height of military campaign to apprehend of annihilate the 9/11 culprit-in-chief. The Iraqi war could pass for an extension of the war on terror, but do not tell me it has anything to do with the hunt for the Al-Qaida leader.
In 2005, President Bush dissolved a special squad dedicated for the capture and or killing of Osama bin Laden by former President Bill Clinton in 1995. It was also on record that Bush at the twilight of his administration alluded to what we all have known a long time ago, that he never taken the hunt for Bin Laden any seriously. “The man is on the run, I do not know where the man is hiding. To be frank with you I do not lose sleep about him, I’m not worried about this man,” Bush said dismissively. The war against Saddam has not made us any safer, rather it has made us more vulnerable, impoverished, and ridiculed internationally. With Saddam under the influence of the United States, Iran was sufficiently weakened. Today, Iran is a regional “super power,” and a potential nuclear contender. Prior to the Iraqi invasion, the government under Saddam was a secular one. With the death of Saddam via hanging, America has thus, created a full-fledged Islamic country, the likes of Iran and Syria, thereby inadvertently watering the fountain of suicide bombing.
As a senator, Mr. Barrack Obama described the Iraqi war as senseless and dumb. As a presidential candidate, Obama vowed to end the Iraqi campaign, reinvigorate the Afghan war and refocus our efforts at hunting down OBL. Candidate Obama was ridiculed and dismissed as naïve, when in one of the presidential debates, he suggested that he would not hesitate to move into Pakistan to capture or kill OBL following any actionable intelligence. Most of the criticisms coming from the GOP make no sense at all. They make fun of the fact that he is professorial. They caricature the fact that he was humble enough to operate as a community organizer, living and working amongst the downtrodden of society, while his contemporaries chose the Wall Street. They reduced the President of the greatest country in the world to an undocumented alien who has to show some papers to qualify for employment. The GOP accused him of not following the security policies of former President George Bush in tracking down Bin Laden. With his death in the hands of President Obama and company, the GOP now claims George Bush’s policies made that possible. The truth of the matter is that there were no such policies from 2006.
You would think that a party that prides itself as security hawks would embrace the death of the individual who orchestrated the worst attack against America on American soil, and congratulate the President, the intelligence community and the military. That would not be. For the GOP, everything is politics. The assertions coming from the ranks of GOP members regarding the killing of OBL are troubling. Just as they are against anything the President is for, they appear to be sympathetic to Bin Laden, and against the President and the men and women of the military. They accused the military brass who pulled off this heroic fit of killing an unarmed man. It is a shame that any American irrespective of political persuasion could describe Bin Laden as “unarmed.” The conservatives who have consistently bashed Muslims and Islam are now sudden defenders of Islamic religion and jurisprudence, describing the burial at sea of OBL as against Islamic tenets. Because the President is disinclined to release the graphic photos of the killing citing security reasons, the GOP is clamoring for the photos not because they seriously doubt Bin Laden’s death, but for two reasons. (1) The photos if released now would upset Muslim sensibilities, with catastrophic effect on America and its interests, and (2) If released now, it would not have the same punch when used as election tool come November 2012.
It is mind boggling that for eight years, while President Bush told Americans that OBL might be hiding in a cave somewhere on the mountains along Pakistani/Afghan borders, OBL was comfortably wallowing in opulence in a million dollar mansion with wives and children. One would think that Bin Laden would be armed to the teeth in view of his notoriety as world’s most wanted terrorist. However, he was not, and the question for me is what was he thinking? He must have been under the impression that America has forgotten about him. Was the de-emphasis put on his hunt by the Bush administration, any indication of his seemingly relaxed, and comfortable living in a city close to an army installation? From reports, OBL moved into his mansion in 2006, just one year after George Bush dismounted the Bin Laden squad. Is there any connection? In killing Bin Laden, President Hussein Obama kept a campaign promise, and I just hope that his critics would look beyond his color, and only then, will they see and appreciate the gift he is for America. I must be frank with you and say just as quickly that the frantic attempt, which we are seeing now by the GOP, scratching for credit in the death of OBL is their last hope at ascribing a semblance of achievement to a completely failed administration. Bin Laden’s death has demystified the myth that the GOP is better in national security, and therefore, has totally annihilated the Party’s only political plank. With Bin Laden gone, the bogeyman is out of the picture, and there goes the fear of the unknown known.
No comments:
Post a Comment