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Bush Was Right (in 2000)
Townhall.com ^ | May 28, 2012 | Katie Kieffer

Posted on 05/28/2012 6:18:58 AM PDT by Kaslin

Let’s make foreign policy like it’s 2000. I think we will support our troops and vets by revisiting the foreign policy that former President Bush expressed in 2000. Otherwise, we will send brave hearts into vain battles.

In October, 2000, George W. Bush debated Al Gore on C-SPAN. He said:

“I think one way for us to end up being viewed as the ugly American is for us to go around the world saying: ‘We do it this way, so should you.’ … It really depends upon how our nation conducts itself on foreign policy; if we’re an arrogant nation they’ll resent us; if we’re a humble nation, but strong, they’ll welcome us. …Somalia started out as a humanitarian mission then changed into a nation-building mission and that’s where the mission went wrong; the mission was changed, and, as a result, our nation paid a price and so I don’t think our troops ought to be used for what’s called nation-building. …If we don’t stop extending our troops all around the world and [conducting] nation-building missions, then we are going to have a serious problem coming down the road and I’m going to prevent that.”

As we know, Bush did not fulfill his 2000 foreign policy goals. I think he was right to enter Afghanistan and route the Taliban immediately after the 9/11 attacks. Unfortunately, he overextended our stay and his executive reach. Today, Bush’s successor, President Obama, is proof that Bush was right in 2000. For, Obama’s efforts to ramp up Bush’s post-2000 expansionism are failing.

This month, Obama gathered his NATO partners in Chicago and signed an agreement that hands major combat operations over to Afghan security forces by the summer of 2013. (So much for consulting Congress and the Constitution.)

Nearly 11 years of war and $642 billion dollars are the temporal and monetary costs to U.S. taxpayers for the War in Afghanistan. No metric, however, quantifies the cost of elongated war to U.S. troops and veterans.

Obama should never have sent an additional 33,000 troops to risk their lives in this hopeless region in 2010. This month, bipartisan leaders of the congressional intelligence committee reported that the Taliban has become stronger since Obama’s troop surge. And, American troops are increasingly dying at the hands of our allies. Since 2007, around 80 Americans have died at the hands of our Afghan “partners.”

I think Obama should tell Americans the truth about Afghanistan. The RAND Corporation recently produced a study for the Pentagon: “The study says violence initially increases after U.S. special forces go into an area to root out insurgents. After the Americans withdraw and leave behind a police unit, violence usually falls [back] to the level before U.S. teams first intervened, the study found,” conveys the Chicago Tribune.

Obama should bring the troops home now—not in the summer of 2013. He can better utilize our troops on the U.S.-Mexico border where drug cartel violence threatens American ranchers, farmers and the U.S. food supply.

By keeping our troops and resources abroad, Obama is perpetuating a situation where current and former armed forces deal with suicidal depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A U.S. vet commits suicide every 80 minutes, according to a recent estimate by the Department of Veteran Affairs.

The number of off-duty soldiers who are dying in PTSD-induced car accidents when they return to the U.S. is soaring. “…Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are unique [compared to other vets], for one major reason: Their combat experiences were frequently defined by dangers on the road, particularly from roadside bombs. …returning troops may be reflexively applying driving techniques …[such as] speeding up at intersections to avoid gunfire or scanning the roadside for danger instead of watching the road ahead,” reports the New York Times.

Have you ever heard of Spc. Dennis Weichel? I bet not. If Obama appreciated the extreme stress and sacrifice that our troops are undergoing overseas, he would have made a bigger deal of 29-year-old Weichel who recently gave up his life to save a 10-year-old Afghan boy named Zaiullah. Weichel had three young children of his own yet he dove to save Zaiullah from a massive armored vehicle that ran him over instead. The New York Times reports: “…the military in Afghanistan debated whether to release the details of Weichel’s death—even though he had been promoted to sergeant and awarded the Bronze Star posthumously...”

Or how about Marine Sgt. Gary Stein? Despite nine years of honorable service, Stein received a less-than-honorable discharge and lost most of his benefits for merely questioning (via 11 words on Facebook) Obama’s leadership style—which is characterized by routine dismissal of the Constitution.

Obama is looking out for his reelection. His administration recently allowed Hollywood producers into CIA and Navy SEAL vaults to work on an Osama bin Ladin raid film that was originally scheduled to appear before the November election.

Meanwhile, a 26-year-old prisoner of war named Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho is serving his third year as a Taliban captive in Afghanistan. Bergdahl’s parents are very frustrated. I think our President has his priorities mixed up if Hollywood producers seem to get more attention than the Bergdahls.

Today is Memorial Day. I think we can honor our troops and vets by vowing to abandon an unconstitutional foreign policy that unjustly kills, injures and depresses American armed forces. Let’s start making foreign policy like it’s 2000.


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: bush; obama

1 posted on 05/28/2012 6:19:01 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin
I thank God everyday for President Bush on 9-11 and every day thereafter.

He felt like a good father. I was a coward. He made me brave.

2 posted on 05/28/2012 6:41:53 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: Kaslin

let’s honor our troops by flushing barack hussein obama back down the toilet.


3 posted on 05/28/2012 6:49:48 AM PDT by the invisib1e hand (they have no god but caesar)
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To: Kaslin

TOSS THE Czar/Tsar/Caesar SALADIN in 2012


4 posted on 05/28/2012 6:54:07 AM PDT by OldEarlGray (The POTUS is FUBAR until the White Hut is sterilized with Tea)
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To: Sacajaweau

“I thank God everyday for President Bush on 9-11 and every day thereafter.”

Huh? Did you bother to read the article? The author rightly castigated Dubya for abandoning his “nation building does not work” policy.

“He felt like a good father. I was a coward. He made me brave.”

That’s one of the most creepy statements I’ve ever come across on FR.


5 posted on 05/28/2012 6:56:51 AM PDT by KantianBurke (Where was the Tea Party when Dubya was spending like a drunken sailor?)
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To: Kaslin

‘Religion of peace’? Thanks for playing.


6 posted on 05/28/2012 7:04:53 AM PDT by ebshumidors ( Marksmanship and YOUR heritage http://www.appleseedinfo.org)
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To: ebshumidors

Go see a shrink. You need help


7 posted on 05/28/2012 7:08:26 AM PDT by Kaslin (Acronym for OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: Sacajaweau

Very well said


8 posted on 05/28/2012 7:09:22 AM PDT by Kaslin (Acronym for OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: the invisib1e hand

Yessssssss


9 posted on 05/28/2012 7:10:08 AM PDT by Kaslin (Acronym for OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: Kaslin
Nearly 11 years of war and $642 billion dollars are the temporal and monetary costs to U.S. taxpayers for the War in Afghanistan.

Is that the total cost of our military actions in Afghanistan? $642B is the total? And the dems constantly complain about the cost of war yet BO and Biden blew through $865B in one year bailing out their SEIU and public employee unions.

10 posted on 05/28/2012 7:20:00 AM PDT by thirst4truth (www.Believer.com)
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To: Kaslin
As we know, Bush did not fulfill his 2000 foreign policy goals. I think he was right to enter Afghanistan and route the Taliban immediately after the 9/11 attacks. Unfortunately, he overextended our stay and his executive reach.

He also made a HUGE error (and one I am convinced was due to missinforation and faulty advice from PC, Multiculturalists and Pro-Islamist advisors, most notably, he who had access in influence at the time at the WH, the BOTTOM-FEEDING, Rat-Bas-Turd, TRAITOR and Islamic-Jihadist-Supporter, phony, pretend, Republican.....GROVER NORQUIST)....

....in that he signed off on allowing both Iraq and AFgan to form new Governments with Islam/Sharia being the "Controlling Authority....

...thereby FOREVER, dashing any hopes that either country would be a true "ally" nor would any of their peoples ever enjoy rights, liberties or any measure of "freedom."

Iraq will be either swallowed up and/or become an "orbit" of the Mad Mullahs in Iran and Afgan will revert back to being controlled by the barbaric, 6th Century Tally-Ban.

Yep, time to bring our Warriors home now; not worth having any more casualties for a lost cause.

11 posted on 05/28/2012 7:33:05 AM PDT by Conservative Vermont Vet (l)
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To: KantianBurke

That statement is pretty weird. After the 9/11 attack I felt like Bush couldn’t complete a complete sentence in front of a camera.


12 posted on 05/28/2012 7:34:08 AM PDT by Sawdring
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To: Kaslin

Kaslin, this was not pointed towards you but to Bush. When he called Islam a ‘religion of peace’, we might as well have surrendered because we weren’t willing to recognize the enemy. What should I tell the shrink? That I’m a realist?


13 posted on 05/28/2012 7:45:13 AM PDT by ebshumidors ( Marksmanship and YOUR heritage http://www.appleseedinfo.org)
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To: Kaslin
Let’s start making foreign policy like it’s 2000.

And pretend 9/11 never happened.

14 posted on 05/28/2012 7:45:54 AM PDT by death2tyrants
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To: KantianBurke
The author rightly castigated Dubya for abandoning his “nation building does not work” policy.

Yep. That's what makes the title of the article so misleading. A better title would have been "Bush did not follow his own advice", or something like that.

15 posted on 05/28/2012 7:55:19 AM PDT by Leaning Right (Why am I carrying this lantern? you ask. I am looking for the next Reagan.)
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To: ebshumidors

I know it wasn’t pointed at me


16 posted on 05/28/2012 8:04:52 AM PDT by Kaslin (Acronym for OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: ebshumidors

I know it wasn’t pointed at me, but President Bush believed in the goodness of people and there are plenty of Muslims who are good people. You just throw everyone in the same pot.


17 posted on 05/28/2012 8:09:46 AM PDT by Kaslin (Acronym for OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: Sacajaweau
No George W. Bush incompetence, no Obama. Sadly, W was a failure and the worst president I have ever voted for.

Unlike the current White House occupant, there is little serious doubt among conservatives that Bush cared for the nation's traditional values and had some good instincts, but I think his presidency shows the dangers of electing a man who inherited wealth and proximity to political power.

18 posted on 05/28/2012 11:58:12 AM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
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To: Colonel Kangaroo
"No George W. Bush incompetence, no Obama. Sadly, W was a failure"

Bump


19 posted on 05/29/2012 6:37:25 PM PDT by KantianBurke (Where was the Tea Party when Dubya was spending like a drunken sailor?)
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