Chuck Muth over at Human Events Online penned a telling article about how the White House has lost many conservatives not only on domestic issues (we’ve beaten that horse enough) but also in its prosecution of the War on Terror (specifically, in Iraq). I don’t know if I agree with all of the points he makes, but overall he makes a compelling argument for the many bungles this administration has made in executing the war. Here’s the real meat of the story:
This erosion of support started almost immediately after 9/11, and has decreased steadily ever since. Let me suggest six key turning points which have helped chip away at conservative support for President Bush’s war effort.
The first missed opportunity was the president’s post-9/11 statements. Instead of telling the American people to get back to their normal lives, he should have called for sacrifice. And he should have stoked the public’s righteous anger into support for doing whatever was necessary to wipe this militant Islamic scourge from the face of the earth. And his very first action should have been to announce to the world that he was rescinding the Executive Order which bans assassinations of foreign leaders.
I’m not saying he necessarily should have used it; but he should have declared it. He should have sent the unmistakable message that America would not fight this war with one hand tied behind its back. And that if one of our Marine sharp-shooters gets a shot at a dirtbag, that dirtbag is going down. End of story. Case closed. Hello, 72 virgins.
Then the world would have known we were serious. Dead serious.
The second decision which began a slow erosion of conservative support for the president’s war on terror was the president’s new war on grannies and toddlers. I’m talking about combining a bunch of big federal agencies into one HUGE federal agency – the Department of Homeland Security. Oh, and its evil spawn, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Conservatives instinctively know that expanding the government bureaucracy is never the answer to a problem. By taking private airport security screeners and making them government workers, Republicans asked for – begged for – the backlash they’re getting now. The longest lines in the United States today are government-created: the DMV and the TSA. Thanks, Republicans.
But wasn’t just the federalizing of an entire workforce. And it’s not just the inconvenience. It’s the pure stupidity. It’s watching little old ladies and tots in strollers being patted down while 18-to-34 year old Middle Eastern men are shuffled right on through for fear of being accused of “profiling.” A nation serious about winning a war isn’t worried about offending the sensitivities of those who just happen to match the description of those most likely to do us harm.
As for going into Iraq, conservatives aren’t having second thoughts about that. They’re not buying the liberal line that “Bush lied and people died.” Saddam Hussein was one of the bad guys. In fact, he was one of the worst or the worst bad guys. Given the chance he’d have gladly financed, if not organized, additional attacks on America (or Israel). Saddam gave us reason, cause and opportunity to make an example out of somebody. And lo and behold, almost the minute Saddam went down, Muammar Khadafi gave up all his hidden, secret weapons of mass destruction. Go figure.
Which brings me to the third big mistake the Administration made in the war. We knew Saddam was one of the bad guys, and we knew we were going to take him out. But instead of doing so immediately, we pussy-footed around with the United Nations and the Democrats for months. Months in which Saddam had plenty of opportunity to hide weapons that everybody, including the hapless Bill Clinton, knew he had (after all, he’d USED them already on his own people in Halabjah).
The Air Force and the Navy’s rockets red glare should have lit up Baghdad in October, not March.
That’s only an excerpt of the article, I’d recommend that you read the entire article. At Save The GOP we harp on the Bush administration endlessly for his domestic failures, but this brings some good points to light about mistakes that have been made in the war as well. Give it a read and comment away.
H/T Daily Pundit.
