An open letter to George W. Bush

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AchtungBono

Refugee
Joined
Jul 18, 2001
Messages
1,300
Location
Tel-Aviv, Israel
My dearest friend George,

What can I say? The U.S. constitution states that you can only be president for 8 years. Too bad. You could have done so much more good for the country that you served so loyally and faithfully during your two terms.

You served as president of the greatest country on earth. It was a thankless job and sometimes extremely frustrating but, through it all, you managed to hold up to your inaugural promise - "To faithfully preserve and defend the constitution of the United States". The work was backbreaking and difficult and, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for being one of the best and strongest presidents in U.S. history.

Unfortunately, some of the people you served didn't see you the same way as I do. I really can't blame them. They have lived for years in a state of security and a feeling that America is untouchable and that they will always be safe.

In other words, your people lived in a state of complacency and lived their daily lives thinking that it will always be this way

…........and then came 911 and America got the worst wake-up call imaginable.

Suddenly your people found themselves under attack and, in one instant, their lives were changed forever. Gone was the security, gone was the complacency, gone were the feelings of “everything’s going to be fine”……gone also were 3,000 innocent citizens of your nation. Citizens who went to work in the morning and didn’t come home. Citizens whose only crime was being citizens of the greatest democracy on earth. Citizens who were murdered by terrorists sent by a zealot who looked onto the United States with envy at the prosperity and freedom that your people enjoy.
A zealot who doesn’t understand the concept of pluralism and demands that the world follow only one way – HIS. A zealot who doesn’t believe that anyone else has the right to freely worship their god in their own way. A zealot who calls everyone outside his religion “Infidels” not deserving to live. A zealot who runs a worldwide network of maniacs whose sole purpose in life is to spread misery, violence and death. A zealot who believed that there was no one in the world who could stand up against him.

…………..he was WRONG………

For there you were…….one man in the entire world who stood in the rubble of the World Trade Center and declared with a strong voice: “Those who did this will be hearing from us very soon…..” It was YOU who took the most difficult decision that a leader can take – to finally put a stop to the reign of terror of the fanatics who declared war on you and to fight back.

Were mistakes made? Yes, Could things have been done differently? Perhaps.
I believe that only history will be able to judge many years from now whether or not the steps you took were good or not.

One thing is undeniable though, you took action. You stood alone against the world and proved that no country could act as a shelter for terrorists – not Afghanistan, not Iraq, and countless other countries that your operatives are no doubt working in now.

That you had to curtail some of the freedoms that your citizens enjoyed –
I understand.

That you had to authorize very harsh methods against the terrorists you captured in order to save other lives – I understand.

I understand your critics who claim (unjustly) that you lied to the American people about the reason for going to war in Iraq – you believed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and there was absolutely no reason NOT to believe it. Time and time again, Saddam Hussein didn’t allow inspectors into his country and he had so much time between 1991 (the end of the gulf war) and 2003 to smuggle and hide the weapons he had left in his arsenal, which is why none were found when the U.S. went in.

I’m so sorry that in your eight years of presidency seven were dominated by war and violence. I’m sorry that your actions were so unpopular that there were people who actually believed that it was your own government that orchestrated the attacks of 911 in order to justify going to war…..which only proves the greatness of the United States constitution – allowing obvious nutcases to say anything they want in the interest of free speech.

Dear George, as the hours tick down to the end of your administration, I would like to salute you and express my most profound thanks for always being a friend to Israel and for championing the cause for peace and justice around the world.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter who believes what. YOU know you were right, YOU know that you tried your best and YOU are the one who has to sleep with your conscience, which is undoubtedly clear and sound.

I have no doubt that your hand must have trembled when you signed the order to send your finest men and women to fight in a foreign land. How your heart must have broken to see the many thousands of coffins of those wonderful and brave soldiers who went to war to protect the security of your citizens and to help keep them free. I salute the men and women of the American and allied armed forces who made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve freedom for all of us against a ruthless enemy who uses every violent tactic known in order to spread their evil around the world.

Dear George, I know that you probably leave the White House with a certain feeling of frustration that the war on terror hasn’t been completely won yet and that the arch-criminal Bin Laden is still on the loose. However, you can take comfort knowing that you did not sit idly by but rather you went on the offensive to try and find him, and the very fact that so many of his henchmen have been killed or captured, and that he himself is in some wormhole somewhere and your citizens are free to walk around, should be comforting to you.

Dear George, I thank G-d that you were in the right place at the right time to lead the United States following the 911 attacks. I’m sorry that so many thousands of your citizens lost their lives on that day and in the years since, but I have faith that the actions you’ve initiated will go on until the criminals are finally killed or brought to justice.

In closing, I offer you my outstretched arm in friendship and, with all my heart, I wish you all the best in everything that you do from now on.

I have the greatest respect for you and for the great country that you lead, and I pray that G-d gives President Obama the strength needed to maintain the security that you preserved.

G-d bless you Mr. President and thank you for everything.
 
Bush did keep the country safe after 9/11. I'll give him that. It's also probable that if Bush didn't go into Iraq and Afghanistan there would be people criticizing that as well. It's also probable that Sadaam would have a nuclear weapon. Criticism will happen no matter what as Obama found out before he is even inaugurated.

We still have to be patient and wait and see how Iraq and Afghanistan will be after the handoff. That's the real test. Will a national unity appear or will it devolve into tribalism?
 
this rock also prevents tiger attacks. there haven't been any near here since i got it last year.
 
Here's my question, if you're working for a company that has an advertising department that suddenly pulls in the big account for you and makes you a multimillionaire, who gets the credit? Is it those in the advertising department, or the CEO?

The CIA and FBI thwarted terrorist attacks, and they have been there long before Bush Jr. stepped in, and many of those people had nothing to do with Bush anyway.
 
Here's my question, if you're working for a company that has an advertising department that suddenly pulls in the big account for you and makes you a multimillionaire, who gets the credit? Is it those in the advertising department, or the CEO?

The CIA and FBI thwarted terrorist attacks, and they have been there long before Bush Jr. stepped in, and many of those people had nothing to do with Bush anyway.

No changes since September 11th 2001? You people just want to take the few successes from the Bush Administration and assume it's all crap. Of course that doesn't surprise me.
 
No changes since September 11th 2001?
There's no evidence these changes stopped anything though...

You people just want to take the few successes from the Bush Administration and assume it's all crap. Of course that doesn't surprise me.
But that's the problem, what successes? You are turning the absence of something into a success. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

And you and Bush will have to live with that... If there were truly some great feat of saving this country due to his policies and leadership, believe me it would be broadcasted all over, for his administration would have made sure of it...
 
Almost impossible to prove, but Republicans will hold on to it desperately for years...

I am going to be very afraid for the next 4 years with the dems in charge :wink:

Democrats can't fight a war. They know this, and admit it. FDR was the only one with the guts to do it. And many on the left criticized him for it.

Good post, no matter how many other peole shit on it. :up:
 
Democrats can't fight a war.




war has really done wonders for us over the past 8 years.

but, that aside, are you going to look at fucking IRAQ and tell me that the Republicans know how to fight a war? are you next going to tell me that it's only Republicans who know how to not spend?

because that would be amazing. because if there's one thing George Bush and the Republicans have done, it's lose wars (and cities) and spend like drunken sailors.
 
umm when have we lost Iraq? As far as I know, were still there fighting Al Queda..

also I find it funny how we can talk about this and be calm in control, where-as all the anti-bush people explode about the subject :wink:
 
What are you talking about the war is done, mission accomplished...

See?

mission-accomplished.jpg
 
umm when have we lost Iraq? As far as I know, were still there fighting Al Queda..

also I find it funny how we can talk about this and be calm in control, where-as all the anti-bush people explode about the subject :wink:



that might be because we're concerned that people have died for WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION that were never found, never existed, and were fabricated in order to facilitate a needless invasion in a country that posed no threat at all to the united states.

maybe you're okay with an administration manipulating not just intelligence but the murder of 3,000 people in new york in order to muster up just enough support to get behind an invasion that they'd been planning for a decade. and then they finally invade, and the fuck the whole thing up. have you been under a rock for 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007? do you know how many Iraqis have died? do you know that we actually don't have unlimited blood and treasure to pour into this morass of ancient and irrational hatred?

or do you just like to wave flags? do you think the Republicans have done a good job over the past 8 years? honestly. really, think hard about this. be honest.
 
I want Bush's time machine which can go back and fabricate the WMD intelligence to justify Clintonian bombing runs and sanctions against Iraq.
 
I want Bush's time machine which can go back and fabricate the WMD intelligence to justify Clintonian bombing runs and sanctions against Iraq.



yes, because that's totally the same because Clinton thought that the WMDs posed such a threat to the United States itself that it was worth a full-scale invasion.

because no one thought that. not even in 2003.
 
How many politicians and bureaucrats opposed the invasion on the basis that Saddam Hussein wasn't threat to US interests?
 
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a major victory for the White House, the Senate early Friday voted 77-23 to authorize President Bush to attack Iraq if Saddam Hussein refuses to give up weapons of mass destruction as required by U.N. resolutions.

Hours earlier, the House approved an identical resolution, 296-133.

The president praised the congressional action, declaring "America speaks with one voice."

"The Congress has spoken clearly to the international community and the United Nations Security Council," Bush said in a statement. "Saddam Hussein and his outlaw regime pose a grave threat to the region, the world and the United States. Inaction is not an option, disarmament is a must."

While the outcome of the vote was never in doubt, its passage followed several days of spirited debate in which a small but vocal group of lawmakers charged the resolution was too broad and premature.

The resolution requires Bush to declare to Congress either before or within 48 hours after beginning military action that diplomatic efforts to enforce the U.N. resolutions have failed.

Bush also must certify that action against Iraq would not hinder efforts to pursue the al Qaeda terrorist network that attacked New York and Washington last year. And it requires the administration to report to Congress on the progress of any war with Iraq every 60 days.

The measure passed the Senate and House by wider margins than the 1991 resolution that empowered the current president's father to go to war to expel Iraq from Kuwait. That measure passed 250-183 in the House and 52-47 in the Senate.

The Bush administration and its supporters in Congress say Saddam has kept a stockpile of chemical and biological weapons in violation of U.N. resolutions and has continued efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Bush also has argued that Iraq could give chemical or biological weapons to terrorists.

Iraq has denied having weapons of mass destruction and has offered to allow U.N. weapons inspectors to return for the first time since 1998. Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Tawab Al-Mulah Huwaish called the allegations "lies" Thursday and offered to let U.S. officials inspect plants they say are developing nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

"If the American administration is interested in inspecting these sites, then they're welcome to come over and have a look for themselves," he said.

The White House immediately rejected the offer, saying the matter is up to the United Nations, not Iraq.

Resolution sharply divides Democrats

The Senate vote sharply divided Democrats, with 29 voting for the measure and 21 against. All Republicans except Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island voted for passage.

Ahead of the vote, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle announced Thursday morning he would support Bush on Iraq, saying it is important for the country "to speak with one voice at this critical moment."

Daschle, D-South Dakota, said the threat of Iraq's weapons programs "may not be imminent. But it is real. It is growing. And it cannot be ignored." However, he urged Bush to move "in a way that avoids making a dangerous situation even worse."

Daschle had expressed reservations about a possible U.S. attack on Iraq, and he was not part of an agreement between the White House and other congressional leaders framing the resolution last week.

Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia, attempted Thursday to mount a filibuster against the resolution but was cut off on a 75 to 25 vote.

Byrd had argued the resolution amounted to a "blank check" for the White House.

"This is the Tonkin Gulf resolution all over again," Byrd said. "Let us stop, look and listen. Let us not give this president or any president unchecked power. Remember the Constitution."

But Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said the United States needs to move before Saddam can develop a more advanced arsenal.

"Giving peace a chance only gives Saddam Hussein more time to prepare for war on his terms, at a time of his choosing, in pursuit of ambitions that will only grow as his power to achieve them grows," McCain said.

In the House, six Republicans -- Ron Paul of Texas; Connie Morella of Maryland; Jim Leach of Iowa; Amo Houghton of New York; John Hostettler of Indiana; and John Duncan of Tennessee -- joined 126 Democrats in voting against the resolution.

Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Missouri, said giving Bush the authority to attack Iraq could avert war by demonstrating the United States is willing to confront Saddam over his obligations to the United Nations.

"I believe we have an obligation to protect the United States by preventing him from getting these weapons and either using them himself or passing them or their components on to terrorists who share his destructive intent," said Gephardt, who helped draft the measure.

But Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, said the 133 votes against the measure were "a very strong message" to the administration.

"All across this land Americans are insisting on a peaceful resolution of matters in Iraq," he said. "All across this land, Americans are looking towards the United States to be a nation among nations, working through the United Nations to help resolve this crisis."
CNN.com - Senate approves Iraq war resolution - Oct. 11, 2002
 
How many politicians and bureaucrats opposed the invasion on the basis that Saddam Hussein wasn't threat to US interests?



what changed, in "this post-9/11 world," was the threat that SH and his supposed WMDs posed to the US itself. that's the pertinent issue here, and the spinelessness of the Democrats -- who feared electoral retribution from an understandably shaken public of 2002 -- does not at all absolve the Bush administration from their willfull manipulation of the WMD evidence, nor does it absolve them from their very clear and very distinct break from Clinton and Bush 41-era containment policies.

remember the debates on a "grave and gathering danger" and the parsing of the word "imminent"?
 
Brilliant letter to a brilliant man. The idiots who denounce Bush demostrate to the world that they are idiots because they have voted in a man for no reason other than he is black! This man speaks of hope and change and the idiot sheep buy every word. Now see The One is president and already he is breaking every major campaign promise he made. In fact, bush is vinidcated by the fact the idiot's president, obama,
is already continuing all of Bush's major policies. Wire taps, no time table for iraq, win in Afghanistan, keeping the Bush tax cuts, no winfall tax on the oil companies, no universal healthcare crapola, and foreign policy pretty much the same. You see liberal idiots, when a guy is not in power and responsible for the country it is easy to criticize him. But when that man now OWNS the economy, the wars, the foreign policiy he can't just make idiot statements and not worry about the consequences. So all you idiots who hated Bush are looking mighty stupid because your Messian is already showing that he will do very much the same as Bush. Obama claimed he would close gitmo butnow we see he has no answer as to what to do with the prisoners. George bush did a good job despiste all the idiots who bashed him everyday. And now we will all see the hypocrisy of the democrats as we watch them take full responsiblity for the economy and wars. If they do what they have always said they would do, they will make things far worse and be out on 4 years. if they do what has to be done, they will vindicate Goerge W Bush!
 
Brilliant letter to a brilliant man. The idiots who denounce Bush demostrate to the world that they are idiots because they have voted in a man for no reason other than he is black! This man speaks of hope and change and the idiot sheep buy every word. Now see The One is president and already he is breaking every major campaign promise he made. In fact, bush is vinidcated by the fact the idiot's president, obama,
is already continuing all of Bush's major policies. Wire taps, no time table for iraq, win in Afghanistan, keeping the Bush tax cuts, no winfall tax on the oil companies, no universal healthcare crapola, and foreign policy pretty much the same. You see liberal idiots, when a guy is not in power and responsible for the country it is easy to criticize him. But when that man now OWNS the economy, the wars, the foreign policiy he can't just make idiot statements and not worry about the consequences. So all you idiots who hated Bush are looking mighty stupid because your Messian is already showing that he will do very much the same as Bush. Obama claimed he would close gitmo butnow we see he has no answer as to what to do with the prisoners. George bush did a good job despiste all the idiots who bashed him everyday. And now we will all see the hypocrisy of the democrats as we watch them take full responsiblity for the economy and wars. If they do what they have always said they would do, they will make things far worse and be out on 4 years. if they do what has to be done, they will vindicate Goerge W Bush!

Welcome to FYM. Feel free to join in the discussion, but try to refrain from calling people idiots.

:)
 
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