George W. Bush Vindicated

When news broke that Osama Bin Laden had been killed in Pakistan by U.S. forces, Americans were elated. With chants of “U.S.A., U.S.A.,” citizens took to Times Square, the streets of D.C., and elsewhere to celebrate the fact that the head of that slippery snake had finally been crushed

As I watched the coverage and spoke to friends, we all shared the sentiment that it was a great moment for our troops: it was a crowning tribute to their bravery, their focus, and their relentlessness. (Perhaps now they will receive a modicum of the adoration they’ve long deserved.)

Then President Obama, suddenly a hawk, popped up in front cameras and gave a speech apparently designed to highlight his role in okaying the mission – “Last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.”

But as I listened to Obama patting himself on the back, telling us it was “at [his] direction” that “the United States had launched a targeted operation” I literally began to groan aloud. Even though it was only days ago that Obama was still a recognizable ’60s-type radical defined by his anti-war pals (like Bill Ayers), his senatorial vote against funding the troops, his promise to close Guantanamo Bay if elected president, and his war against using the language of war in the War on Terror, there he stood in front of the world gloating about a military he had theretofore only loathed.

I was sickened to say the least.

Let’s be honest folks: if any one person, in addition to our military personnel, deserves to be singled out for adoration at this time it’s George W. Bush. It was Bush who stood when Democrats – Obama and others – did their best to undercut him as he launched and maintained the War on Terror.

In 2001, it was Bush who launched the War on Terror to exact justice on those behind the 9/11 attacks: who so memorably stood with the firemen at Ground Zero and promised, “I can hear you, the rest of the world hears you, and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.” And in 2003, it was Bush who famously said of Bin Laden: “[He is] on the run . . . he’s certainly not leading any parades these days. . . . He’s probably in a hole somewhere hiding from justice. We’ll get him – dead or alive.” (Admittedly, I always liked the “dead” option best.)

In response to these things, Obama’s fellow Democrats and his friends in the mainstream media (MSM) mocked Bush for acting like a cowboy.

At various times during the War on Terror, it was Bush was authorized enhanced interrogation techniques – including waterboarding – both to find the animals behind the 9/11 attacks and to gather intelligence useful in preventing another attack. Moreover, Bush was the man who opened the prison at Guantanamo Bay as a half-way house to hold captured terrorists for interrogation prior to their trials before military tribunals.

In response to these things Obama campaigned for the presidency on anti-torture (anti-waterboarding) pledges, promises to close Guantanamo Bay, and efforts to nix military tribunals.

Yet Bush did not budge. Regardless of the ridicule, he stayed the course. (The mockery Bush faced from Obama and other Democrats has been well documented by David Limbaugh.)

And even before Bin Laden’s recent demise, Bush told an incredulous MSM not only that he wasn’t ashamed over authorizing waterboarding while president, but that he would “do it again to save lives.” And guess what? It’s now being widely reported that the path to Bin Laden began with information gleaned from interrogations on captured terrorists that took place at Guantanamo Bay during “Mr. Bush’s War” (as the liberals loved to call it before Obama took office).

But I digress, for we all remember the shameful way Bush was treated, and the seeming endless criticism leveled at him by Democrats in general and Obama in particular.

Therefore, the point that needs to be made is that George W. Bush deserves our gratitude for refusing to back down when the war was unpopular. He merits all the honor we can bestow upon him for not giving in when he was called every name in the book and openly slandered by MSM personalities. He is to be commended for standing with our troops when Democrats (like Obama) threatened to cut their funding, and for staying out of the limelight when our troops achieved great things (like capturing Saddam Hussein), because he wanted the troops to have the honor. (Obama, on the other hand, can’t wait to tell us what he authorized, decided, etc.)

Thank God for George W. Bush: the man who possessed the fortitude to make certain the people “who knocked [those] buildings down [have heard from] all of us [now].”