The Tribune 10.28.04

Going through our late father’s effects recently, my sister and I came across old WWII ration coupons and a photo of a handsome young man, smartly decked out in his Army uniform, holding an infant. We grew up during the war, and though I was very young, I remember stories of valor and sacrifice, of Pearl Harbor and D-Day. Later, we would scramble over the old iron bunkers that dotted the Texas coastline and imagine that we had spied enemy warships on the horizon.

We also heard stories of the Great Depression, fresh in the memories of our parents and grandparents. Great leadership and great courage brought them and the nation through war and depression and inspired them to make sacrifices for the common good. A great president created the New Deal, Social Security, the FDIC and WPA – the grand programs that brought the nation out of depression and put it back on the road to prosperity. Great leaders chartered the United Nations and created lasting alliances like NATO to ensure the post-war peace. Americans came to expect strong leadership during perilous times, and we were not disappointed.

This is the history against which I view the current presidency and our choices in the coming election. The Bush administration simply wasn’t manning the bunkers prior to 9/11. They failed to respond to credible information that a terrorist attack was being planned. After the attack, Bush brushed briefly with greatness by uniting us in a war against terror. He vowed to find and destroy Osama Bin Laden and to cripple his al-Qaida network. But instead, he rashly invaded Iraq based upon what would prove to be false pretexts: that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, posed an immediate danger, and harbored al-Qaida terrorists.

Now, Bush says he was misinformed. If this is so, then we really were and still are in imminent danger, not from Saddam Hussein but from the people who advise the President and are charged with protecting our national security. How did they fail to notice that Hussein had dismantled his stocks of wmds after the Gulf War and that Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan were the true centers of Bin Laden’s strength?

We do have a mission against terror and it must be accomplished, not through posed photo ops on air force carriers, but through real leadership. There are determined enemies who sow hatred and train their young people to kill all infidels. But the situation in the Arab world has been made worse by our actions. Bush has weakened alliances and mired our forces in a ground war against a growing insurgency. He has created a new breeding ground for terror.

Great presidents inspire us to follow their lead, instead of misleading us so we will follow. We should hold The Presidency to higher standards. This is not the only reason, but it is the main reason, why I will vote for John Kerry. I urge all readers to do the same on November 2.