We may not, probably won't, know what was really going on during the first months of the Bush Administration on terrorism. But I don't really think whether Bush was "on point" about bin Laden and friends early on is the issue. Maybe we could have prevented the attacks. Maybe. But we still would have had to have a lucky break, I think. As much as I dislike George W. Bush, I don't think he would have ignored the terrorist threat deliberately; it's easy for me to think that, during the first 8 months of a new administration, there were simply other priorities too.
The issue for me was, is, and will be the Iraq war. I think that's the potentially damaging thing for Bush. I felt all along that Iraq was a mistake, that we should have stayed with the Afghan campaign until we had rooted out all the terrorist cells we could find. Even if there were ties between Iraq and Al Quaeda, we were face to face with the terrorists we said they were supporting, and we blinked! Bush possibly had his opponent on the ropes, and he let up and went looking for another fight. Now, 2 years later, the Taliban is still a threat in many parts of that country - even resurgent in some areas. And Al Quaeda seems to still be alive and well. And Iraq has become a cesspool.
The real loser in this may be Condoleezza Rice. If she comes out of this looking like she wasn't concerned anough to pay attention, or appears to have been played by the administration, her credibility will plummet. And that would be quite a fall for someone who had been lately mentioned, at least semi-seriously, as a potential Republican vice-presidential candidate should Cheney need to go away.
Posted by hboswell at April 2, 2004 11:36 AM | TrackBack