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Have We Been Safer Under Bush? The Empirical Evidence Says Yes
IBD ^ | May 28, 2008 | John Hinderaker

Posted on 05/28/2008 5:56:38 PM PDT by Kaslin

The debate over Iraq and the war on terror rages, even amid signs we're winning. John Hinderaker of powerlineblog.com recently posted a blog entry answering the perennial question, "Are We Safer?" We rerun it here with his permission.

On the stump, Barack Obama usually concludes his comments on Iraq by saying, "and it hasn't made us safer."

It is an article of faith on the left that nothing the Bush administration has done has enhanced our security, and, on the contrary, its various alleged blunders have only contributed to the number of jihadists who want to attack us.

Empirically, however, it seems beyond dispute that something has made us safer since 2001. Over the course of the Bush administration, successful attacks on the U.S. and its interests overseas have dwindled to virtually nothing.

Some perspective here is required. While most Americans may not have been paying attention, a considerable number of terrorist attacks on America and American interests abroad were launched from the 1980s forward, too many of which were successful.

What follows is a partial history:

1988

February: Marine Corps Lt. Colonel Higgens, chief of the United Nations Truce Force, was kidnapped and murdered by Hezbollah.

December: Pan Am flight 103 from London to New York was blown up over Scotland, killing 270 people, including 35 from Syracuse University and a number of American military personnel.

1991

November: American University in Beirut bombed.

1993

January: A Pakistani terrorist opened fire outside CIA headquarters, killing two agents and wounding three.

February: World Trade Center bombed, killing six and injuring more than 1,000.

(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: bush; bushlegacy; hinderaker; nationalsecurity
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1 posted on 05/28/2008 5:56:38 PM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

This writer’s an idiot. How can he say that we’ve been safer under Bush? He shows the 3,000 dead in the 9/11 attacks but “dismisses” them, I’m assuming as inconsequential. He refuses to admit that Bush had been President since February 2001. 9/11 happened under his watch.


2 posted on 05/28/2008 6:01:06 PM PDT by levotb
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To: Travis McGee; hiredhand; DoughtyOne; Lurker

IMHO....Foreign enemies, yes. Domestic enemies ......no .


3 posted on 05/28/2008 6:04:34 PM PDT by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet)
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To: levotb
9/11 happened under his watch.

Where to begin...?


4 posted on 05/28/2008 6:05:46 PM PDT by rdb3 (Upward, onward, beyond...)
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To: levotb
Hey yoyo, how many times have we been attacked in the US proper and US territory since Bush went on the offensive against jihadists?

How many times were we attacked in the previous 30 years?

Which administration and Congress deballed our intelligence services and our military making such attacks not only possible but rather easy to accomplish?

And finally, why are you so damn ignorant?

5 posted on 05/28/2008 6:08:56 PM PDT by jwalsh07 (El Nino is climate, La Nina is weather.)
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To: rdb3

I wouldn’t bother.


6 posted on 05/28/2008 6:09:08 PM PDT by rlmorel (Clinging bitterly to Guns and God in Massachusetts...:)
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To: Kaslin
I suppose that the thousands who have been killed or raped by illegals don't count. Maybe not as dramatic as buildings collapsing but they suffered just as much.

Sorry, but this country's safety is nothing for Bush to be proud of. What about the military buildup in China that we are paying for?

A Dem could certainly use this but they aren't any better.

7 posted on 05/28/2008 6:10:55 PM PDT by Colorado Doug (Now I know how the Indians felt to be sold out for a few beads and trinkets)
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To: rlmorel
I wouldn’t bother.

You're right. I won't.


8 posted on 05/28/2008 6:11:04 PM PDT by rdb3 (Upward, onward, beyond...)
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To: levotb

ZOT......libturd on board


9 posted on 05/28/2008 6:12:34 PM PDT by Alright_on_the_LeftCoast
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To: rdb3; Squantos

Is the domestic threat as severe as we have been led to believe it is? Was Bush confident that no terrorists would be sneaking in with the illegal aliens? Was that why he was able to do such a supreme job of ‘protecting us’?


10 posted on 05/28/2008 6:23:42 PM PDT by B4Ranch (Having custody of a loaded weapon does not arm you. The skill to use the weapon is what arms a man.)
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To: Kaslin

A perhaps irrelevant but interesting sidebar to his timeline. There have been no successful terrorist operatios against Americans at home or abroad since Saddams capture in late 2003.


11 posted on 05/28/2008 6:23:59 PM PDT by nkycincinnatikid
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To: levotb

I think you’re missing the implicit point that much of this analysis is about if we’re safer or not applies to post-911.

People often use the “are we safer argument” in the context of pro or against the Iraq war.

Once all modern-day liberals are dead and the history books are being written, the Bush post-911 era will be noted as a safe period for the homeland BECAUSE of the Republicans.


12 posted on 05/28/2008 6:25:33 PM PDT by AlanGreenSpam ("Celebrate Diversity! Look at the world with all it's problems - Isn't "diversity" so beautiful?)
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To: levotb

9/11 happened under his watch.

9/11 took 6 years to plan.


13 posted on 05/28/2008 6:25:44 PM PDT by angcat (Indian name "She who yells too much")
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To: rdb3
Well levotb be got one thing right. After all he started out by saying this writer is an idiot :^)
14 posted on 05/28/2008 6:26:11 PM PDT by Las Vegas Ron (Election '08, the year McCain defined the word "dilemma")
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To: B4Ranch

When I say domestic threat I mean those that have infested our goobermint like the socialist democrats, and enviro’nazi’s inside the wire !


15 posted on 05/28/2008 6:29:31 PM PDT by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet)
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To: angcat

6 years to plan and two terms of Clinton is a recipe for disaster... If Bill Clinton would have went after the terrorist who attacked the US and US interest under his watch like he went after the Branch Davidians and Elian Gonzalez then 9-11 never ever would have happened. just sayin


16 posted on 05/28/2008 6:57:25 PM PDT by hippyhater
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To: Squantos
IMHO....Foreign enemies, yes. Domestic enemies ......no .

AGREED...unfortunately.
17 posted on 05/28/2008 6:57:46 PM PDT by hiredhand
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To: levotb

Wow, with thoughts like that, you must have “do not resuscitate” tattooed to your forehead.


18 posted on 05/28/2008 6:58:45 PM PDT by Gator113 (Obama is a member of the Far Wright Conspiracy.......)
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To: levotb

Oh, yeah, Bush did it. Well, my FRiend, we haven’t been attacked since that day, so what’s the beef?


19 posted on 05/28/2008 7:08:50 PM PDT by Marysecretary (.GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL)
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To: Marysecretary

Nasty little brown men stole his landscaping job.


20 posted on 05/28/2008 8:34:10 PM PDT by mimaw
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