Posted on 05/05/2011 6:16:23 AM PDT by radioone
"Yeah, we waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed," former President George W. Bush told an audience in Grand Rapids, Michigan in June 2010. "I'd do it again to save lives."
When Bush said this a year ago, the howls from the left weren't as loud as usual. And why would they be? The "angry left," as Bush called it -- and felt it more acutely than anyone bestriding the planet -- didn't care much anymore. Waterb oarding had been a tool for the left's purposes: to demonize and defeat Bush. It had usefulness just as Iraq once had. It had gotten the Democrats not only a gigantic Congressional majority but also the presidency, ensuring $800-billion "stimulus" packages, ObamaCare, nationalization of GM, and decades more of Roe v. Wade. In the ultimate progressive coronation, waterboarding, like Iraq, like Gitmo, like Abu Ghraib, like so much more, enabled the election of the most anti-war, anti-Bush, and generally most left-wing of all Democratic presidential candidates, Barack Obama.
And so, when Bush made no apologies for waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed last June, the normal hysteria was a mere din.
Further tempering the usual shouting were the suddenly cooled voices of mainstream Democrats, who, though not as far to the left as the extremists in their ranks, still read the New York Times as if it were Gospel, or their daily bread. These Democrats are governed by the anonymous power of emotion and the fads and fashions of the moment -- and by what had been their party's only definable operating principle: If Bush was for it, they were against it.
They had been against practically everything George Bush did from 2004 to 2008. I never saw anything like it. As someone who studies and teaches history, foreign policy, and the Middle East, I watched in great frustration as Democrats opposed things they had always supported when their guy was commander-in-chief, and no doubt would again, once back in the White House. They slammed away at George W. Bush, scourging the man, roasting and toasting and turning and skewering, politically crucifying him. It was ugly -- and so unjust. Finally, after eight years of Bill Clinton, we had a president who cared not a whit about polls, completely giving himself for what he believed was right, and liberals torched him.
Still, Bush quietly carried his cross, turning the other cheek, accepting the torment, sacrificing his presidency for what he thought was best for his country and citizens. He could've closed Gitmo. He could've stopped the "enhanced interrogation" of detainees. He could've stopped waterboarding. He could've picked up and packed up and abandoned Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bush hung in there, devoting himself to preventing another 9/11. Even many Republicans fled him, especially those who for bizarre political/psychological reasons subject themselves to corrosive doses of CBS, NBC, ABC, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. Many of those Republicans emailed me daily, taking the bait, constantly panicked by the latest unsubstantiated silliness spun on the liberal gristmill to feed the mainstream media's anti-Bush appetite. The accusations would have been laughably stupid if not so viciously sad.
Did it work? Oh, you bet it did. Going into the final year of his presidency, Bush had the worst approval of any president since Truman, somehow below even Carter and Nixon. Everyone was against him.
But President George W. Bush carried on, resigned to the fact that he would leave office unappreciated. Even as the left hopped and hollered and twitched and poked all around him, he retained the War on Terror policies that would one day allow the left's guy in the Oval Office, Barack Obama, to secure the signature foreign-policy success that most of us knew would redound to Bush's successor. The moment arrived on May 1, 2011, when a jubilant President Obama was able to announce to the world, in a statement with at least 14 first-person references, that Osama bin Laden was dead. Those 14 self-references were 14 more than any Obama thanks to Bush. (Bush got one mention from Obama, a nod for not declaring war against Islam after 9/11.)
Of course, anyone with common sense, and not ruled by partisan emotion, understands that Bush's policies made the capture possible. They were the same polices that Senator Obama and an ever-enraged left employed to take down Bush.
"We obtained that information through waterboarding," stated Congressman Peter King (R-NY) shortly after Obama's historic announcement, confirming what conservatives figured. That information, said King, "directly led us to Bin Laden."
King told Fox's Bill O'Reilly:
[Y]ou mentioned the fact that we obtained ... vital information about the courier for Osama. We obtained that information through waterboarding. So for those who say that waterboarding doesn't work, who say it should be stopped and never used again, we got vital information which directly led us to bin Laden. ... It came from an overseas prison where Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was being interrogated. Waterboarding was used, and it was during the interrogation of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, through waterboarding, that this information was learned."
Naturally, "progressives" immediately pounced on King's statement, which cannot be permitted to be true. You can count on the Times to work super-hard on that one (click here). They cannot credit Bush, which is an unbearable, unsustainable notion in the left's mental universe.
And yet, as even liberal sources from the Times to the Washington Post are forced to concede, it was the totality of the things the Bush administration did, including interrogation of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, which led to Osama. Even if, as some liberals are claiming, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed divulged key information under "standard interrogation" after he was waterboarded, obviously the mere thought of another waterboarding worked wonders in making him talk.
Because of that, and more, bin Laden now follows a legion of Islamist ghosts extinct because of a process begun by George W. Bush. The 9/11 architect joins a roster of Hall of Terror corpses that include Saddam Hussein, Uday Hussein, Qusay Hussein, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Abu Abbas, Abu Nidal, and more. They're all dead. It's a world vastly better than the 9/11 world first confronted by George W. Bush, not unlike the vastly improved post-Cold War world that Democrat Bill Clinton inherited after two terms of Republican Ronald Reagan.
And now, the headlines of history -- which the political left writes via media, academia, Hollywood, and the publishing industry -- will read "Obama Got Osama."
But how? That's the story behind the headlines. With the help of everything Bush had done. Heck, Bush may have gotten Obama not only Osama but a second term. And liberals wonder why conservatives find it bitterly difficult to credit President Obama?
For that matter, will the left credit Bush? Will there be a public confession or apology or commendation for this man they pilloried, who helped make possible the triumph enjoyed by the president they revere -- the political messiah to the Bush devil? No. There's no faith, hope, or charity.
"Life takes its own turns, makes its own demands, writes its own story," said George W. Bush four months before 9/11. "[T]he greatest rewards are found in the commitments we make with our whole hearts -- to the people we love and to the causes that earn our sacrifice."
For George W. Bush, the sacrificial presidency continues.
AMEN, Justa! We were few and far between!
It's good, however, to see some acknowledgement now that character DID matter, that deep love of country DID make a difference, that grit DID keep us safe, and that humility IS a quality to be admired and not derided.
Absolutely, absolutely NOT.
There were a myriad of reasons why Obama won in 2008, and NOT ONE OF THEM is the character and God-given humility of George W. Bush.
What did YOU do to help President Bush in regard to the lies from the communist "left" as you call them?
Believe me, I did my part to defend GWB. To the point where friendships were severed and my relationships with some coworkers have never recovered.
Barry has an army out there defending him
Yes, Zero has an army out there defending him. He also has an administration that *goes on the attack*. It would have been nice for GWB to cut loose some attack dogs of his own.
*That* is all I am saying. So don't even bother going where I know you and ohioWfan plan to go: accusing me of being a "Bush hater" and "not being there for Bush", etc. That would be a lie.
Exactly where in my post did I impugn the character of GWB? Thanks for not reading.
Exactly. Now Hussein is going to stage a big photo-op at ground Zero to try to make it appear as if he alone has “fixed” it.
Hussein had NO CHOICE but to give the “courageous” go-ahead order for the operation to take out Bin Laden. Imagine if he had followed the wishes of his commie heart and refused. It would have been 1000 times worse than when Bubba let UBL get away when we had the chance to kill him.
thank you for the ping dear FRiend. It breaks my heart to see how STILL the left twists the truth and attacks this good man. He is still ‘my president’ and I thank the Lord he did his part in keeping our nation safe & with honor.
It is interesting that many who attack GWB praise the one currently destroying the fabric of our counry.
Pray for our country & for the continual safety of Laura and George Bush. Too many kooks out there
Silly question...have you read any of the nearly 15,000 comments on the link I posted in #14?
Sunday night, shortly after the announcement, one of "my guys" called to make sure I had heard the news. We both brought that link up and watched as we chatted about the news for over an hour. There were at least 1000 posts within 30 minutes. They were ALL thanking and congratulating OUR President.
How did "your guy" take the news? "My guy" had a very rough night wishing he had not been injured in such a way as to keep him from the field of battle.
If you check the posts above, you'll see that kristinn pinged me to this article. Your paranoid imagination not only isn't accurate, but it also isn't healthy.
The rest of your post is nonsense. I don't 'plan to go' anywhere. Perhaps you do, but I'm just enjoying being part of the (belated) recognition of what I've known all along.........
That President Bush was a great President - a patriot, a man of immense character and moral clarity, and an all around good guy.
Setting aside your paranoia to respond to this post, I didn't say that you 'impugned the character of GWB.' (Thanks for not reading).
I will now clarify. The REASON that GWB did not 'fight back' as so many of us wanted him to, was because of his character and God-given humility (Note: I wanted him to fight back too).
My point was that his character and God-given humility (which NEITHER of us have impugned), has nothing whatsoever to do with Obama's victory, which is what you were claiming in your previous post.
There were scores of reasons why the prom king won. NONE of them was GWB's humility.
Understand now?
I know precisely where you’re going. You’ve done it to me before, some years ago. When I expressed disagreement with GWB over his prescription drug program, you called me a “Bush hater.” When I disagreed with him over immigration, you called me a “Bush hater.”
Well, sorry, I may not have agreed with GWB 100% on everything, but I don’t hate the man. Never have, never will.
I loved the spontaneous and enormous outpouring of support for PRESIDENT BUSH after punkobama claimed all the credit for getting Osama.
There is so much gratification that even people who were bashing him non-stop, are finally giving him the recognition he deserves.
As for "your guy".....what courage! Where do these guys come from?? Amazing!!
And that is all I was saying....
Another picture we can look at is one where Gore was the prez instead of Bush. After 9/11, Gore would have done what Clinton did. Send in the FBI to try to apprehend the criminals behind the attack. You know how that would have gone. In short, Bin-Laden would still be directing major attacks against us while ensconced in Afghanistan. But the voters would have thrown Gore out of office anyway after a similar 9/11 occurred. Bush not only gets most of the credit for getting OBL, he gets the credit for there not being another attack on our soil after 9/11. Rough interrogation works.
No. You have NO idea.
And with your conflation of, and distortion of facts here, I doubt your memory as well.
At any rate, that was, what? four to eight years ago, and you're still steaming. Even if your memory is accurate, which I highly doubt, it's not healthy to still be so angry about some fuzzy memory from so long ago. (I don't even remember your name).
Just for the record, I disagreed with President Bush regarding immigration, so your 'memory' is clearly wrong about that. I never called anyone a "Bush hater" for just disagreeing with his policies......especially immigration.
IF that was all you were saying, then you wouldn't have blamed Bush for Obama's election in the same sentence.
Sorry. It's in black and white. And it's inaccurate.
Honestly, that was the furthest thing on my mind with that ping. oWf and I have discussed many times, at length, the points I made in my post to you, thus the ping. We do not operate on that gang mentality that many do.
Believe me, I did my part to defend GWB.
Then I offer my sincere apology and gratitude to you.
BTW, President Bush did have folks out there Setting the Record Straight and giving Just the Facts and The Rest of the Story
Money quote to ponder:
For that matter, will the left credit Bush? Will there be a public confession or apology or commendation for this man they pilloried, who helped make possible the triumph enjoyed by the president they revere -- the political messiah to the Bush devil? No. There's no faith, hope, or charity.
I am glad he stayed strong with the surge and other facets of this long war. One thing for sure, he'll never get credit from the left. Never. Had he been in office during the OBL take down the left would have called him a war criminal and tried to have him impeached for this horribly aggressive and highly illegal act.
Honestly, that was the furthest thing on my mind with that ping. oWf and I have discussed many times, at length, the points I made in my post to you, thus the ping. We do not operate on within the gang mentality that many do.
Believe me, I did my part to defend GWB.
Then I offer my sincere apology and gratitude to you.
BTW, President Bush did have folks out there Setting the Record Straight and giving Just the Facts and The Rest of the Story. However, if they are not permitted an audience what good does it do. The so-called conservative media were not much help either.
I did/do not have any plans to go anywhere except to work. Have a great day.
You mean you're not going to Ground Zero to worship the Zero? But think of all you'll be missing ;)
Good day to you, too.
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