David French: The ‘Idiots’ Were Right, Mr. Bannon

National Review ^ | September 11, 2017 | David French

[EveningStar]

How quickly some of us forget. How arrogant some of us have become.

Those of you old enough to remember the shock and horror of September 11, answer me this: If I had told you that the George W. Bush’s anti-terror policies would be so effective that after that terrible day jihadist terrorists would kill only three Americans on U.S. soil for the remainder of his term, would you judge his policies a success, or would you call him an “idiot” and hold him and his foreign-policy team in “complete contempt?”

I know my answer. I know the fair answer. In the days and weeks after 9/11, fear gripped America. We knew al-Qaeda possessed an immense safe haven in Afghanistan. We had no idea of what other plots might unfold next. After all, our intelligence agencies had just missed the worst attack on American soil since the British burned Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812. We believed that the 9/11 attacks were the first of a series of assaults to come. That they never came is to the eternal credit of Bush and his team.

[Lurkinanloomin]

Mr. French is one of those who believe we can have national security without border security.

[Alberta's Child]

Those of you old enough to remember the shock and horror of September 11, answer me this: If I had told you that the George W. Bush’s anti-terror policies would be so effective that after that terrible day jihadist terrorists would kill only three Americans on U.S. soil for the remainder of his term, would you judge his policies a success, or would you call him an "idiot" and hold him and his foreign-policy team in "complete contempt?"

Huh?

How many Americans were killed by "jihadist terrorists" on U.S. soil before 9/11?

[Alberta's Child]

Right. He conveniently fails to mention that the Boston Marathon mutants and the Orlando nightclub attacker were all radical Muslims who came here to the U.S. while George W. Bush was president.

[Behind the Blue Wall]

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

[rockinqsranch]

Personal opinion. It should never have happened on anybody’s watch ever, and Islam has not been repaid for their handiwork.

Nobody can tell me ever that Islam is a religion of peace.

[raybbr]

French - aptly named. He’s willing to give up his liberties for the illusion of security.

[Cubs Fan]

GWB with his anti-trump BS is just another rino like his brother and McConnell and Ryan. He should STFU forever and go away.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

I strongly supported the initial invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, but learned my lesson on “nation building”. A nation either has their own Jefferson, Madison, and Adams or they don’t. These (and other) third-world crap-holes with warlord tribes will never exit the 9th Century by external means. Liberty blossoms from the civil society, not the tip of a bayonet.

Get out, and stay out!

[Governor Dinwiddie]

In Afghanistan it was game over the minute globalist George Bush wanted to "partner" with Pakistan to watch the back door to Tora Bora. Yep, Jorge, you may not be as dim a bulb as Jeb, but you came out of the same box.
 

[cdcdawg]

“... worst attack on American soil since the British burned Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812.”

Pearl Harbor? Seems like that one was pretty bad. Hawaii wasn’t a state yet, but it was American soil.

[DiogenesLamp]

If I had told you that the George W. Bush’s anti-terror policies would be so effective that after that terrible day jihadist terrorists would kill only three Americans on U.S. soil for the remainder of his term

And how many were killed on US soil prior to Mr Bush's policies? Wasn't it "none"?

You aren't offering a very honest measure of success now, are you?

[TTFlyer]

Lots of kicked-dog Bushies coming after Bannon today.

[DiogenesLamp]

Exactly what I asked.

[allendale]

Sorry but complete idiot more closely describes what Bush ended up doing in Afghanistan and Iraq than Bush acolytes describing the six thousand American dead, tens of thousands more physically and psychologically maimed, the fruitless “nation building” as necessary effective sacrifices. Bush never really understood the nature of the threat, was blinded by his family’s ties to the Saudis and the wealth it created for them and ended up creating innumerable needless enemies of the American people. What is more Bush squandered so many resources that it led to the economic crisis of 2007-8 and the election of the vile Obama. Sorry but Bush was weak and stupid.

[Ted Grant]

Wasn’t this guy Bill Kristol’s or Mitt Romney’s secret weapon for a few days in 2016?

[Lurkinanloomin]

They know Bannon was effective in his interview and they are trying to minimize the damage to the agenda.

[Chewbarkah]

I guess the thousands of good Americans killed, tens of thousands horribly wounded, and hundreds of thousands of Iraquis killed, wounded, etc., because of the neocon’s fantasies and GWB’s ignorance and mismanagement, just don’t count. The author can obfuscate by responding to something other than what Bannon said, but he can’t undo Bush’s unnecessary war or the neocon job that got us there.

[Nifster]

David French the Never Trumper who thought he could run against DJT

He is an idiot. Sorry I am underwhelmed by the Bush foreign policy....it was all about nation building

[ProtectOurFreedom]

...and yet, now you cannot travel to any remote corner of the entire country without seeing burqa-clad or hijab-clad women. Their men are committing terrible crimes all over the country and justice is not being served (e.g, Twin Falls, ID). The entire nation is cowed and afraid to speak out against the evil that is islam.

So, I ask you, in the sixteen years just passed, who won?