Open Letter to the President (or, Why Bush Has Lost My Vote)

me | 9/26/2001 | Brent C. Skilton (aka Heisenburger)

[Heisenburger]

Please post this on Salon.com, not here. Thank you comrade and have a nice day.

I think you missed the opening paragraph. I voted for Bush. I even donated to his campaign, not too mention Rick Lazio's, and I have the check stubs to prove it.

[cva66snipe]

Like you, I want strong action, particularly against Iraq and other states who sponsor terrorism. But I believe Bush is a good man, his own man, and I still have hope that he will do the right thing in the end.

I do as well. But I do not want to see GWB make a GHWB mistake in getting us bogged down into alliances that limit the scope and ultimate elimination of those who are doing this. We still have Saddam thanks to GHWB ignoring the wisdom of our founders. I do not want the U.N. or their World Court or their Security Council to be party of this as this.

This not their war and in war you fight by no other mans rules but the rule of unconditional victory. That means either elimination of enemy or the unconditional surrender of the enemy and occupation of a nation until stability is restored to that government which is not a threat. The Gulf War did not end in such a manner.

To fight war otherwise brings upon yourself defeat as the enemy has tied your hands. I'm giving Bush a chance on this one and I hope he is wiser than his dad.

[GeekDejure]

Just settle down and wait for awhile. . . give things a chance to develop. . .

[cynicom]

Fire the team manager before he wins or loses the game. One has to wonder why the manager was ever hired. We did not even get into the first inning and people are bailing out, not a lot of confidence to begin with.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

I doubt, in light of your threa,t that President Bush will tell you of the plans in progress. It is interesting that you seem to know so much inside information. The rest of us watch, listen, wait and trust. In any event there is nothing else to be done and threatening to bolt and vote against him isn't much of a threat as I see it.

[colorado tanker]

George Bush has more integrity than you will ever understand. He will do exactly what he said last Thursday. He will punish Al Qaida and destroy their ability to support terrorist operations against the US and our friends. Because the Taliban harbor Al Qaida, they will meet the same fate. Once this is accomplished, whether the Taliban continue to hold onto the Kabul city hall is a stupidly irrelevant issue. You will look very foolish after the coming campaign is unleashed. Sheesh. As I recall, even the Gipper had to put up with whiners.

[starbaby]

If he doesn't extend some type of diplomacy to these other countries, where in the world are we supposed to base our troops and our planes? Why should he report every troop movement to us and the media? It just endangers them. How do we know we aren't already in Afghanistan fighting? I'm new here so maybe I'm out of place saying this but what makes you think you could run this war better? Have you forgotten that it took months for us to retaliate for Pearl Harbor? Do you want to do this quick or do you want to do this right?

[1rudeboy]

Dude, you are losing it . . . get it together. If anyone cares to assist in the diagnosis, click here. It's when the symptoms first started.

As an aside, does anybody have a link to a website that calculates the dates of phases of the moon over Afghanistan? (A little curiousity, if you know what I mean).

[mlo]

This is stupid, and I'm being kind. You don't even know what the campaign entails yet, it hasn't happened. All you know is based on alleged news reports of alleged secrets, and they have all been contradictory.

What is the problem with waiting to see what happens before you decide how to vote in 2004? Or is it that you think your little note is going to influence events? Geez.

[gopgen]

Well! I'm glad we have foreign policy geniuses like YOU to second-guess the likes of Dr. Condoleeza Rice and Defense Secretary Rumsfield! Obviously, we elected the wrong man President! I await my solicitation for donations to your 2004 exploratory committee! (Of course, reeking of sarcasm.)

[Lanman]

Please sit down and drink the Kool-aid.

[Heisenburger]

If he doesn't extend some type of diplomacy to these other countries, where in the world are we supposed to base our troops and our planes?

Simple. We ask them if we can use their bases, offering them bribes or trade preferences or political favors. But we do not offer to alter our mission in order to win their support. This is where Bush has faltered, and it may be our downfall.

[sinkspur]

Underestimating your enemy is a serious strategic mistake.

Overestimating him is too.

I remember the "Fearsome Republican Guard" in the Gulf War, and those guys surrendered to news reporters.

I'm sure glad you dopes aren't running the country.

[Robert DeLong]

Fortunately you are not the one leading this response against terrorisn, or we would surely be headed into America's biggest loss militarily.

This is not a conventional war that will be won using conventional warfare. As a matter of fact that is EXACTLY what bin Laden would love for us to do as our response, indiscriminately drop bombs. Then he would be able to garner all Islamic support rather then just the radicals.

I think you at least owe yourself some time to see how his response is played out before you totally discount his methods. Played wrong, and WWIII could erupt. Played correctly, and terrorism just might end up in the cross-hairs of the world. That would include terrorist states that support terrorism too.

[kevkrom]

Right, just like a good little Stalinist subject.

Wow... harsh. What do you want, really? All of the military planning to be held in public forums? Special-ops actions printed in the NY Times prior to their happening?

Try to learn a little patience. There are five major fronts of this campaign, and some of them have already started to show results. There is the financial front -- witness the freezing of terroist assets to the tune of $100 million in the EU just in the past day. There is the domestic front -- the investigative agencies have been very aggressive about finding and detaining possible suspects and accomplices. There is the special-ops front -- a UK report yesterday or the day before indicated that British SAS were already on the ground inside Afghanistan. There is the diplomatic front -- pressure is being placed on various countries to isolate the primary target from any outtside support. And finally, there is the direct military front -- this one takes the longest to get started because troops shouldn't be committed until the objectives are set and all the pieces are in place.

Things are happening. Sorry if you aren't getting the prime-time telecast of bombs dropping that you might want, but direct military action is probably the last of the fronts to be fully active, for many reasons logistic, strategic, and diplomatic.

[cicero's_son]

Couldn't agree with you more.

[Heisenburger]

Well! I'm glad we have foreign policy geniuses like YOU to second-guess the likes of Dr. Condoleeza Rice and Defense Secretary Rumsfield!

Actually, the problem isn't with Rice or Rumsfeld. They understand what's going on and what must be done. The problem is that Powell doesn't understand international politics and Bush is taking Powell's advice over that of the true experts.

[RooRoobird14]

Heiseburger, that you've written President Bush off before the first shot was fired shows you were never behind him to begin with. Have some patience--GOOD GRIEF!!!