[Bush] Failing the Test of September 11 [All Hat No Cattle?]

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Monday, September 16, 2002 | MARK HELPRIN

[Plutarch]

Why is George W. Bush a president more of word than of deed?

Last Wednesday, the president was everywhere. But on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, FDR worked quietly in the White House as America battled Japan on Guadalcanal, U-boats on the Atlantic, and Rommel in Tunisia. In the previous 365 days we had quadrupled defense spending and military production, doubled military manpower, turned the Battle of the Atlantic, invaded North Africa in history's then largest amphibious assault, begun the Burma Road, engaged Hirohito's air force, bombed Tokyo, checked the expansion of the Japanese Empire, and triumphed at Midway and in the Coral Sea.

[smith288]

"he has done little to change the dynamic that brought us that day."

How in God would this person know?? They have some sort of access to Bush's daily threat file?

[MJY1288]

Thank God this f*&*ing idiot Helprin works for the Wall Street Journal and not the Pentagon. I guess this moron thinks WWII was won in a month. FDR didn't have grieving families of 3000 innocent civilians killed in Pearl Harbor.

I think Mark Helprin should do us all a favor and stick to his day job of polluting the airwaves and the press and leave the war to those who know WTF their doing

Helprin !!!! Go *^&% yourself

[MissAmericanPie]

"Ask why he stopped short after Afghanistan. And ask why, a year after Sept. 11, he is a president more of word than deed."

Why don't we ask Clinton instead, maybe he can explain why he gutted our military to the point it's taken this long to get ready for Iraq.

[gcruse]

 It is delusional for this nation, which cannot summon
the will even to inspect the baggage in its airplanes,
to believe it is capable of remaking the Arab world

That's not the half of it.  We cannot summon the
will to search for terrorists at the airport,
searching instead for 'weapons.'

[jwalsh07]

That's not the half of it. We cannot summon the will to search for terrorists at the airport, searching instead for 'weapons.'

You and Helprin need to read the newspaper a bit more often. Al Qaeda is being picked off all over the world. Thousands, including bin Asshole, are red mist and dog chow.

Qatar is the new home to the Command Cadre and Saudi has gotten the message.

Helprin writes fiction for a living. This is a good example of it.

[gcruse]

I tend to get negative. You're right. I just see the PC handling of Muslim sensitivities as being to the extreme.

[MJY1288]

But you don't understand, this all should of happened on Sept. 12th. 2002 Including remaking the Arab World and ousting Saddam. And how dare President Bush comfort the families of the victims of Sept. 11th, Only a "President of word, not of deed" would do such a thing < /sarcasm > OFF

Once again... Hey Helprin.... Go F@*K Yourself

[MJY1288]

2002 = 2001

[jwalsh07]

I just see the PC handling of Muslim sensitivities as being to the extreme.

Actually, I do too.

[Wphile]

Hey MJY...tell me what you really think! LOL!

Mark Steyn has a hit piece on W as well. Sheesh...I thought Bush was brillant last week.

[jwfiv]

This article is a stinkeroonie...peeee-yew.

The usually on-target Mark Steyn is also letting his wishes get the better of him in his own scribe of the day, as Helprin seems to do here.

Helprin's statement about the dynamic being unchanged is simply fatuous and stupid.

[KellyAdmirer]

In the previous 365 days we had quadrupled defense spending and military production, doubled military manpower, turned the Battle of the Atlantic, invaded North Africa in history's then largest amphibious assault, begun the Burma Road, engaged Hirohito's air force, bombed Tokyo, checked the expansion of the Japanese Empire, and triumphed at Midway and in the Coral Sea.

The Battle of the Atlantic was not "turned" until April 1943. The invasion of North Africa was possible only because we had a close ally doing much of the actual invading and with facilities and a strong fleet not too far away (Great Britain). I'm not sure how exactly we are supposed to have "engaged Hirohito's air force" in 1942 except for occasional carrier engagements, since we had no air bases within reach of Japan yet. The bombing of Tokyo was little more than a publicity stunt, and everybody in on the planning (a small circle that did not, by the way, include President Roosevelt) knew it. Oh, and Rommel had not yet been forced back into Tunisia by December 8, he was still well east of there, and the Germans had only just begun bringing in troops ultimately to be led there by Von Arnim (though Rommel did command in the south for a while).

I can't take anyone seriously who distorts the facts to make his case seem stronger.

[Howlin]

I comfort myself knowing that if Bush HAD sat in his office all day Wednesday, we'd be reading an entirely different column.

[Zack Nguyen]

The facts are that Bush's defense budget is hardly a change from pre-September 11th, 2001. He has not to my knowledge significantly reorganized the military. A few lonely voices out there have raised protest, but as we have not faced a truly powerful enemy yet we cannot know for sure.

[MJY1288]

Yep, and this monday morning 5th string quarterback Helprin would be crying about Bush being an insensitive War Monger

Hey Mark Helprin.... If you listen real close you can hear many of us saying... Go F*&* Yourself

[Howlin]

LOL...I think you said it enough for all of us on this very thread!

[MJY1288]

LOL, I would, but I don't think the moderators would appreciate my contributions much. When I read trash like this and see FReepers defend it, I want to, Believe me :-)

[Pokey78]

Good grief!

[bjcintennessee]

The only thing this author is correct about is that our airport security is lacking. We can thank the liberals and their PC bullsh** for that -- heaven forbid that we indulge in racial profiling even when the lives of thousands might depend on it. The only thing that has saved us from another 9-11 is the terrorists' knowledge that fellow passengers will never again sit idle, assuming they will be inconvenienced by a side-trip to Cuba. The shoe-bomber discovered as much.

As for Saudi Arabia, their only saving grace is that they exiled Osama Bin Laden years ago. The elite Saudi regime holds their power by a thin and fraying thread, and they seem to have little control over the multitude of extremists in their own country. Further, it is the practice of Arab governments not to interfere in the practices of their Islamic clerics. To speak against these clerics in any arena in any form is to invite the masses to mob the ruling family. Saudi has a corrupt government that lives in extreme wealth while most of their citizens live in extreme poverty. In the past, it probably suited their purposes for their clerics to promote anti-American ideals. This gave the people a common enemy to blame for their misery instead of those in power.

I would like to think that Bush's hesitancy to immediately declare Saudi Arabia an enemy stems from an understanding of the political cobwebs of middle east countries. And maybe -- just maybe, he is giving them time to choose a different path than the one they have taken.