War on Terror Report Card - Part 1: The Bush Years

by Harrold "Haole" A`hole

You may be interested to read how President Obama apparently plans to follow in Bush's missteps.

Things I had hoped now ex-President Bush would have considered should he ever apologize for his errors (I know many Americans and Iraqis are still sorry):

1. Americans are stunned watching TV's constantly looping footage of the planes hitting the World Trade Center. It was awful and terrifying as it seemed to never end. Damn them!
2. Bush allows rich Bin Laden family members (and friends of the Bush family) to fly out of the country on their private jets, back to Saudi Arabia, apparently because the Bin Laden family wouldn't be of any value as it related to that pesky Osama WhatsHisName. It's not like the Saudis were involved in the attack. Boo!
3. Bush policy: You are either with us or against us. Oops!
4. U.S. attacks Afghanistan after the brutal Taliban refuses to turn over Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda (though the Taliban didn't even have Osama in custody). Hurray?
5. Hamid Karzai, one-time Taliban supporter, was selected by the U.S. to head Afghanistan's transitional administration. Interesting that Karzai was also a consultant for American oil company Unocal on its $2 billion project of a Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan natural gas pipeline (are gas/oil riches ever not related to our wars in the Middle East?). The U.S. was dealing directly with the Taliban regarding these "vital American interests." But during the Clinton administration, due to Al Qaeda threats and bombings in Africa, Unocal dropped this lucrative deal and, naturally, created enemies within the Taliban for such a huge loss to them. Then Clinton froze Taliban assets. Then the USS Cole was attacked. But we're told they attack us only because they hate freedom (money had nothing to do with it?). Boo!
6. Neither the US nor Karzai has turned over Osama bin Laden after two years of war, the very thing we attacked the Taliban over, even if the Taliban had apparently not attacked the US on 9/11 either. Should we invade ourselves now? Boo!
7. Powell explains why the U.N. should enforce its resolutions against Iraq, but the U.N. doesn't bite. Oops!
8. We're told: Saddam Hussein supports al Qaeda and was involved in 9/11. Oops!
9. We're told: Iraq could attack U.S. interests in 45 minutes. Oops!
10. We're told: Iraq has chemical weapons in bunkers. Oops!
11. We're told: Iraq has biological weapons. Oops!
12. We're told: Iraq is building a nuclear bomb. Oops!
13. We're told: Iraq has mobile WMD labs. Oops!
14. We're told: Iraqis will welcome the U.S. as liberators. Oops!
15. We're told: The war will be paid for by Iraq, not by U.S. taxpayers. Instead, it costs U.S. taxpayers over a billion dollars per week, along with many lives lost on both sides. Oops!
16. Iraq is attacked and liberated from Saddam's Baathist party tyranny. Hurray!
17. Americans are mesmorized watching TV's constant footage of "shock and awe," and seem to delight in our attacks, apparently no longer stunned (contrast with item #1 above) by far more powerful bombings of others who hadn't ever attacked us. Boo!
18. General Tommy Franks, head of U.S. Central Command, declared that additional troops would not be needed to build a democracy in Iraq. "The sense that I have right now is that it's not time to send in additional troops," the four-star general said. "We want... to continue to move forward with establishing security by working with the Iraqis." So, looting, daily bombing attacks, kidnappings and regular assassinations of Iraqi government officials are not reasons to believe that the security situation may be unacceptable. Boo!
19. Army chief of staff, General Eric Shinseki told Congress that more troops were needed and he was reprimanded. Thomas White, civilian head of the Army, agreed and was fired by Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld figured he'd only need 100,000 troops initially and that he could pare that down quickly. They are already up to 145,000 troops and chaos continues to rule. How do you build a nation when the country is under daily attacks and even Iraqi police stations are regularly blown up. Oops!
20. American Special Forces Lt. Gen. William Jerry Boykin declares we'll win the battle since our God is better than theirs. Oops!
21. Iraqi oil fields are secured and can pump about as much oil as Saddam could after 10 years of harsh embargos. Oops!
22. Saddam's brutal sons are killed. Hurray!
23. Bush declares our mission has been accomplished in Iraq and major combat operations are over. Oops!
24. Saddam is captured cowering in a hole. Hurray!
25. U.S. shutdowns down opposition newspaper (no need to concern ourselves with the contrary views of Iraqis). Boo!
26. Iraqi poll shows the majority are happy we removed Saddam Hussein from power. Hurray!
27. Iraqi poll shows the majority want the U.S. to leave immediately. Boo!
28. Mass graves, typically associated with the evil Saddam regime, are being filled at the hands of U.S. soldiers faithfully carrying out a misdirected policy of pseudo-war. Boo!
29. Al Qaeda bombs trains in Spain. Spain pulls its troops out and vows never to return even with the U.N. Boo!
30. Osama puts a bounty on the lives of high ranking Americans in Iraq. Boo!
31. Over a year after Bush declared that major combat has ended, more U.S. soldiers are dying, cities are under siege, religious leaders are condemning the U.S., security in Iraq is lacking. Boo!
32. The new Iraqi provisional "authority" won't be able to pass laws, run its military or police force, or demand that the U.S. leave. Boo!
33. The U.S. turns to ex-generals of the Republican Guard to help bring stabilty. Boo!
34. U.S. interrogators criminally abuse jailed Iraqis in the same prison Saddam and his sons did. Apparently, the torture has occurred in other prisons and in other countries, too. Boo!
35. Rumsfeld and Bush apologize for "abusing" Iraqis. Good
36. Rumsfeld and Chaney ignore the fact that there was a huge breakdown in the rule of law, a huge breakdown in military command and control, a huge breakdown in public relations and our demonstration of world leadership, and a huge breakdown in intelligence and sharing of information with the President, Congress and the American people. But when the press uncovered their secret abuses, the fact that we publicly condemned the low ranking perpetrators and none of the leaders is somehow proof that we're a good nation. Clearly, the Bush administration approves of such actions in the prison and elsewhere because Rumsfeld assumed responsibility, yet there was no fallout, and in fact Bush praised him the next day as the best Secretary of Defense ever. Boo!
37. Pat Tillman, the football player who became a patriotic icon after giving up his multi-million NFL contract to become an Army Ranger, was sadly shot and killed by his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan. Oops!
38. Chemical artillary shell is found. Unfortunately, it's an old shell and was not specially marked. Some cry that the media is covering up this important story that backs the Bush claims. Others note that such chemical weapons that predate the first Gulf War were sold to Saddam by the U.S. Boo!
39. American Nicholas Berg is murdered by Iraqi resistance in "retaliation" for U.S. prison abuses. Boo!
40. Newsweek reports abuse of Muslim prisoners in Brooklyn (no need to visit Iraq, Afghanistan or Cuba anymore, it's here in the U.S. too) even though 1,200 foreign nationals were rounded up after 9/11 on minor immigration violations and none were ever charged with terror-related crimes. Boo!
41. Fear of majority rule in Iraq shows the serious warts of democracy without guarantees of individual liberty. Shiites want to control the country as an Islamic nation, while Sunnis and Kurds worry they'll be the losers. Oops!
42. The Taliban are fighting back to life. Boo!
43. Saudi Arabia continues to "educate" its youth only about Muslim history and Arab supremacy, breeding more fanatical Osamas who continue their terror attacks on non-Muslims within the country. Boo!
44. We're told: Iraq is a shining example of democracy in the Middle East. Oops!
45. We're told: We need to stay the course, even if the course was never set in any plan. Boo!
46. Al Qaeda continues to bomb in multiple countries without specific retaliation designed to shut them down forever. Boo!
47. Civil war in Iraq appears likely. Boo!
48. The FBI was 100% sure and arrested an Oregon lawyer because "his" fingerprints appeared on a bag related to the train bombings in Spain. Turns it they belonged to an Algerian terrorist instead. Fingerprinting more people and issuing national ID cards and increasing biometric surveillance clearly don't make us safer. Oops!
49. Turns out most of the fabricated "intel" the Bush team's neoconservatives swallowed came from a con, liar, thief, and swindler. Ahmad Chalabi was arrested after he turned to Iran and against Bush, after looting $39 million of our tax dollars feeding hungry fools stories they wanted to hear, even after the real intel community had fingered him as a liar. Oops!
50. Bush budget director, Josh Bolten, cautioned many federal agencies, including the Department of Education (screw the kids), veterans (screw no longer needed warriors), and the National Institutes of Health (screw us all) to the tune of about $3 billion in 2006. That's just two to three weeks of Bush's open-ended, foolish Iraq war costs. Boo!
51. Europe and the U.S. agree to share passenger data, including name, address, phone number and credit card information. Fortunately, to protect our privacy, they won't disclose your requested meal. Then stand in line to be photographed and fingerprinted. Boo!
52. New Iraqi government is formed. Good
    Too bad the secret location and time still resulted in bombs rocking the event.
53. U.N. special envoy Brahimi calls L. Paul Bremer, our chief U.S. administrator in Iraq, a "dictator." Oops!
54. CIA director George Tenet resigns for "personal reasons." Good
55. Saudi Arabia agrees to help us with the high cost of oil by selling us more of their expensive oil. Fortunately, hardly anybody in the Bush administration is related to the oil industry, none have close ties with the brutal Saudi kingdom, the U.S. is feverishly moving towards new energy sources so we won't continue to rely on Arab oil, Halliburton's ex-CEO wasn't involved in awarding no-bid contracts in Iraq, Halliburton has been fiscally sound with our tax dollars in postwar Iraq and in prewar funding of Taliban gas pipelines, and fortunately the U.N. and Iraq aren't tainted by any oil or food issues. Boo!
56. The U.N. security council passes a resolution giving the new Iraqi interim government full sovereignty on June 30, 2004. The interim government's selected leaders publicly back the U.S. occupation and thank us for liberating them from Saddam. Hurray!
    Too bad the loyal Kurds didn't get many protections as a minority group considering their long tradition of being a U.S. ally and foe of Saddam.
57. Ashcroft testified before congress regarding mistreatment of prisoners and memos that indicate his Justice Department may have advised Bush that it was okay to torture. He said he was against torture and didn't think torture was productive, even if memos from his staff suggested the opposite. But Ashcroft refused to release the memos, citing nothing but his contempt for having to reveal government documents prepared for government officials when requested by a government investigation (paid for by our tax dollars in the country that supposedly represents the people) into abuses directly related to those memos. Boo!
58. The U.S. reports it was 0 for 50 in its bombing campaigns against high-value targets, though many civilians were killed. Of those pictured on the famous deck of cards, 0 were killed through long distance assaults based on "intel," including the 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles and four 2,000-pound bombs targeted at Saddam when the war began. Oops!
59. The Patterns of Global Terrorism report says global terrorism is down and attributed this "good news" to the Bush administration's War on Terror. Unfortunately, Secretary of State Colin Powell admits the CIA-sponsored report was a "big mistake." More bad intel, apparently, requiring 8 pages of corrections, and terrorism has in fact increased in both number of attacks and number of victims. Up? Down? What's the difference? Right? Wrong? No worries... Oops!
60. The 9/11 commission final report confirms that there was no credible evidence that links Iraq and the terrorist attack on 9/11. But Cheney continues to think he has secret information that he apparently doesn't want to share with the commission, and he denies that he claimed there were clear ties when he's on camera saying so. The lying VP is a big joke on The Daily Show, which is great for laughs, but sad for a proud United States. Oops!
61. The movie Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore details more observations about Bush's focus on Iraq. Like the VP jokes, it's sadly funny. America shouldn't be a joke, but the clowns running amok in D.C. make a mockery of us all. Ha ha ha! Boo!
62. The Supreme Court surprisingly sided with freedom and the rule of law when it ruled against the Bush administration's preposterous claim that those not covered by the Geneva Convention were somehow also not covered by criminal law and could be held in limbo. Hurray!
63. Saddam and his cabal are being put on trial for their crimes. Hurray!
64. Saddam is charged without his attorney present, is under U.S. custody (despite the silly "turnover" in which Saddam was not physically turned over), was not charged in a fair war crimes court as would traditionally be the case, but instead is being tried by an Iraqi court created by the U.S., housed in U.S. facilities (likely Saddam's former palace and, interestingly enough, not the current Iraqi government's home), by a judge who is too afraid to even identify himself. Boo!
65. Saudis and new Iraqis offer amnesty to terrorists. Americans grumble that terrorists shouldn't get such special treatment. Considering the number terrorists who turned themselves in (near zero? zero?), I guess terrorists aren't looking for an easy way to save their skin. Yeah, right!
66. The 9/11 commission issues its report with several major recommendations. They not only had the enforcement and defensive sides covered, but they wisely included diplomatic suggestions as a way to reduce hatred of Americans throughout the world and increase the much needed cooperations of other nations to help reduce terrorism. Hurray!
67. Regarding the 9/11 commission recommendations, politicians only seem to talk about the government restructuring of power and money and rarely mention the diplomatic methods of resolving the problem rather than just combatting it. If "group think" was responsible for the massive intel failure across several nations (if that were even possible), why is centralized coordination of intel operations a good thing? Boo!
68. Freedoms in the U.S. have been reduced out of fear in the name of "security". Boo!
69. Iraq has gone from no daily terrorist attacks to daily terrorist attacks. Is this what Bush means when he said this is a "different kind of war"? In which increased terror means winning? Maybe we need to invade Iraq because clearly they support terrorism... Boo!
70. The 9/3/2004 newspaper today carried a six column story about National Guardsman Ryan Anderson being convicted of helping al Qaeda. Two pages later, in a small "briefly" section, we learn that a Detroit-based federal judge threw out two terrorism charges against two men convicted last year. It was hailed as a major victory on the war on terror when they were convicted, but there's hardly any word when the Justice Department admitted to widespread prosecutorial misconduct in the case. The short story didn't mention any names of those cleared or those who committed actual wrongdoings. Boo!
71. South Korea has admitted to producing weapons-grade uranium, but North Korea is the terrorist nation. Iraq, with no WMD but claims of possibly giving nukes to terrorists some day in the future, is attacked, while Pakistan, which has sold nuke technologies to many countries, is our friend. Israel already has nukes, and they are our friend, but there's no resolution for the poor Palestinians who must fight with primitive weapons. But we're told the terrorsts only hate America because they hate our freedom. While there's little justification for terrorism, the fact that they kill themselves in order to kill Americans, Russians, Israelis, Spaniards, Iraqis, Japanese, Filipinos and others indicates their hatred may be more inspired than just being against freedom. Boo!
72. Cat Stevens, peaceful singer of tunes like "Peace Train" and "Moonshadow," is a threat to national security because he's on the "no-fly list." Why? Is it because his last name is now Islam? Intercepting a trans-Atlantic flight and re-routing it from Texas to Maine to protect the U.S. from Cat's singing may seem absurd, especially if you think that perhaps it would be wiser to keep terrorists off the airplanes rather than figuring this out hours later while in mid-air. Oops!
73. If rebuilding the Iraqi police force and Iraqi army is the answer, what is correct question since uniformed police executed 49 soldiers and three others? Thank "goodness" the dead were "just" Iraqis and not Americans. Boo!
74. Were we supposed to be guarding the 380 tons of high explosives stored in areas favored by Iraqi insurgents? Oops!
75. Before the U.S. arrived, terrorism was rare in Iraq. It is unthinkable that we'd inflict such daily assaults on a nation that had done no harm to us, with Bush absurdly boasting about how "good" it is that terror is there instead of here. Boo!
76. Two years after 9/11, our intelligence agencies continue to collect more recordings of "terrorists" than they are able to transcribe and analyze. Perhaps just like before, we can learn about the intercepts that warn of an upcoming attack a few months after the attack has actually occurred. Boo!
77. Arafat died at 75. The war on terror didn't address him. Fools awarded this terrorist a Nobel Peace prize! At least we know that the likes of Bush, Arafat, bin Laden, Zarqawi and the others like them will all fade away naturally. Clearly, death was designed into Nature to ensure such ideological, "moral" murderers couldn't last more than a gasp's duration. Hurray!
78. Iraqis have had their election so peace and justice must have returned. Because the Shiites do not retaliate, the country is not in "civil war." I'm sure with many innocent civilians, judges, police, politicians and armed forces killed daily by bombings, guns and rockets, Iraqis appreciate that fighting among themselves after a foreign military invasion and overthrow of the government isn't civil, but is war. Oops!
79. Lebanon's people have finally stood up and demanded reforms and the withdrawal of all Syrian forces. Syria has been a true and significant sponsor of terrorism. It would be good if all foreign, occupying armies withdrew worldwide. Hurray!
80. Despite the Bush administration's claims that the war on terror is successful, the official reports continue to show a massive increase in actual, significant terrorist attacks. The Bush solution isn't to actually reduce terrorism, but simply to stop publishing the official reports. What we don't know will hurt others. Boo!
81. Sudan enters the news again one year after Bush's secretary of state, Colin Powell, declared a genocide was taking place in Darfur, with real terrorism that can be clearly seen. Yet the Bush administration has expressed little action or concern for those lives. Boo!
82. In order to make us "safer," new requirements will be imposed by the federal government on the states as it relates to driver's license. Note that a driver's license is meant to indicate a person is capable of driving a car and is allowed to do so. It quickly became a form of identification more than anything related to driving. Now the feds are trying to slowly adjust them into a de facto national ID system, despite the fact that most identity theft is a direct result of using social security numbers as a national ID. Recall that the social security number was meant to track an "account" for future retirement benefits before someone came up with the idea of using this account number as part of a federal ID system. Never mind that such a step won't reduce terrorism. Never mind that nothing is being done to stem the millions of illegal immigrants who enter this country without any documentation, much less a new driver's license. Security theater appears to be the norm of the day, while real security is being worsened through hardline tactics, and increased surveillance and searching of all Americans regardless of probable cause. Boo!
83. Pakistan captured the "#3" Al Qaeda leader, Abu Faraj al-Libbi. At least another leader, in another country, is taking the fight directly towards our actual enemy, Al Qaeda terrorists, even if he wasn't on our list of significant terrorists. Hurray!
84. Security reviews at our airports confirmed that litle has been done to make such travel safer, and the radical step of replacing private security with federal security has brought no security improvements. In addition, new reports indicate the nearly $4 billion spent on new screening devices and the like has been mostly wasted, buying technologies that do not work, installing them before they were ready to be incorporated into airports and other ports of entry, and spending security funds on places with extremely low risks of terrorism. Boo!
85. Uzbekistan, a U.S. ally in the War on Terror, is run by an authoritarian regime well known to use torture and repression. After a violent demonstration against that government arose, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "The people of Uzbekistan want to see a more representative and democratic government. But that should come through peaceful means not through violence, and that's what our message is." Does "our message" jibe with our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both apparently done to bring more representative and democratic governments, though for other countries that neither asked for nor fought for it? Even our own great nation was born through the violent American Revolution. When it's "our" tyrant who is in power and risks being tossed out, suddenly violence is no longer an acceptable means to achieve an end. Hypocrites!
86. The "Downing Street Memo," among a cache of British government memos leaked to the public, supports the view that Bush had planned to remove Saddam regardless of convincing evidence that such a war was necessary at the time. The documents showed that everyone agreed Saddam was a tyrant and should be removed, but few agreed with the Bush plan to forge ahead quickly regardless of Saddam's minimal threat, the war's shakey legal grounds, and the lack of quality intel. Boo again!
87. After 19 months since Saddam was captured, no charges have been filed against him. This is amazing considering the claims that have been made against him. Why does it take so long to have a convincing case against a madman tyrant? Then, while in U.S. custody, pictures of Saddam in his underwear have become front page news, something that violates the Geneva Conventions, though the U.S. position has always been to deny such rules apply. Previously, Newsweek published a story about the desecration of the Koran. While it partially retracted that story, it reconfirmed previous reports that the Koran was thrown to the ground and stepped on by U.S. guards. This is not the way the leading democracy and lover of freedom and justice should be operating. Clearly, this just enhances the terrorists claims and justifies the jihad against the U.S. Shameful!
88. The Bush administration shamefully used cries of terrorism to deny medical marijuana to patients and doctors, claiming that free citizens do not have a democratic right to enact laws for their own states. Boo!
89. The TSA continues with its scare tactics that shamefully do not make the country any safer. The story about the the Seattle area principal being put on a terrorist watch list just shows you how out of control fear and the abuse of power have become since the Bush administration's fear and secrecy campaign swung into full motion. What good is a terrorist watch list if it contains the names of innocent school teachers? Where's the America that used to be the home of the brave? Have the terrorists truly won now that every small matter is called terrorism, when every purse or backpack is a bomb? Boo!
90. The culture of life during a war on terror apparently spends top dollar secretly housing and abusing foreigners rather than on improving the lives of Americans and others around the world. The Bush administration is spending another $30 million with Cheney's Halliburton to build a new 220-bed prison at Guantanamo. That's just $136,364 per bed. Nevermind Congress is debating closing the prison down, not improving it. In 2005, there are about 520 prisoners held at Gitmo, and $110 million has already been spent on construction there, for another $211,539 per prisoner held. The current yearly operating costs of Gitmo are estimated at $95 million. So on top of that huge "capital investment," holding each prisoner costs $182,692 every year they are indefinitely detained without charges of any sort. Boo!
91. Condoleezaa Rice's Middle East tour has challenged regimes in the area to open up to democracy. Normally, with the recent election fiascos in this country and the after-thought of democracy as the motivator for the Iraq war, this would be seen as hipocrisy or an attempt to legitimize and reframe past incursions. But at least this time the call is coming out before any invasions, showing a bit of planning that was sorely lacking before. Cheers!
92. Newsweek said it best when it reported on a recently leaked CIA study, "One of the paper's main points is that America's Iraqi troubles will not end with the insurgency. In effect, Iraq is producing a new corps of master terrorists with an incandescent hatred for the United States -- the 'class of '05 problem,' as it's called in the shorthand of CIA analysts. This war is proving to be longer and nastier than almost anyone expected. One day, its results may be felt closer to home." Now don't you just feel safer? Boo!
93. Italy has been an ally in the war on terror. However, they have now filed charges against 13 people believed to be CIA agents. According to the charges, the CIA agents kidnapped Islamic cleric Osama Mustafa Hassan and transferred him to Egypt where he was tortured. Shameful!
94. Four blasts in London show that Al Qaeda is still alive and kicking and won't be defeated by invading other countries. Who will we bomb for this offense? Then another set of bombs. Then the police chase an innocent Brazilian and shoot him at point blank range. There's zero tolerance of terrorism and apparently zero tolerance for sanity. Fear is clearly ruling the day in Britain, so the terrorists are winning there. A downed helicopter and dead Navy SEALs in Afgahnistan show that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are still alive and kicking years after that war was "won." Yet Bush and Blair continue to tell us that we're winning the war and that the war in Iraq is making us safer because the fight is not on western soil. Al Qaeda is our enemy in this battle, and it's a shame that so much focus has been taken off of the terrorist network as we instead spend a thousand million dollars weekly to fight a war in Iraq that simply was not yet necessary. The irony that billions of dollars per week and a newly trained Iraq Army are not powerful enough to topple "dead enders" in their "final throes" is not lost on sane observers. The irony of Iran providing military training to Iraqi soldiers is not lost on sane observers. Boo!
95. At least some smart people have done real research that demonstrates a far better understanding of terrorism than the rants of the unthinking and unfeeling. Bravo!
96. Bombs in the London tube have resulted in New Yorkers now being subject to searches for riding the subway. Isn't public transportation great when you join millions of others in cramped quarters, on dirty seats, with questionably healthy people? And now you can suffer being searched by the police even though you are not a suspect and security will be no better. If this seemed a hypothetical risk, a tourist bus was pulled over and searched in Times Square, with five people handcuffed and forced to kneel on the ground. The offense? Being "dark skinned" with a backpack. Naturally, no charges were filed, but it's clear that the terrorists are winning, transforming our police and populice into our very own Taliban. Boo!
97. Israel has pulled out of the Gaza strip. Hurray!
98. Hurricane Katrina demonstrates that despite billions having been spent on homeland security, the same problems of slow response, bureaucratic bungling, cronyism, political infighting, corruption and miscommunication are the best we can expect from democracy. We all know where the National Guard is -- and it's not guarding our nation. Boo!
99. The president goes on television and says "We do not torture." The vice president, around Veterans' Day, complains that justice cannot be served unless America is allowed to torture. The president says he'll veto any bill that precludes our ability to torture. Boo!
100. Terrorist attacks in Jordan, a U.S. ally, and a more taunting Iran show how well our "staying the course" has been working. Apparently there are so many Iraqi terrorists now that they are being exported to other countries. Boo!
101. The NSA is spying domestically, with the assumption that Americans are the terrorists. Bush doesn't care that special courts already grant most such warrants, yet he doesn't believe in getting warrants even from these courts. Boo!
102. The U.S. uses Predator drones to kill 17 in Pakistan. Too bad the dead were women and children, with unknown and unproven deaths of any actual terrorists. Reports suggest that the purported prime target wasn't there at all. Too bad Pakistan wasn't informed and is mad. Too bad 17,000 protesters hit the streets shouting death to America. Is this really the way to win this war of ideas and ideals? Can someone explain to me how people living in a remote area in Pakistan, unrelated to the 9/11 terrorists from Saudi Arabia, and being bombed unexpectedly is not terrorism? The U.S. is bombing civilians who are not terrorists, with zero due process and apparently continued "bad intel." The rule of law once meant something, but Bush is now in control of the largest and most powerful terrorist organization in the world, the same organization that previously was the most powerful, protecting military force in the world. We have two organizations, not speaking for the masses of its people, bombing civilians and military targets of the opposition, yet in the U.S., we pretend that only one commits terrorism, and that's absurd. Boo!
103. Democracy elects Hamas, a terrorist organization with no track record of running a government. Is this what Bush hoped for in "bringing democracy to the middle east"? Oops!
104. Each year after "victory" in Iraq, we spend more billions per month than the previous year. We are now up to $6 billion per month years after we supposedly won, they were liberated and they have their own democracy. Boo!
105. Bush says we just need to trust him when he says our port security is fine and should be outsourced to the United Arab Emirates. The UAE is not a democracy, but is run by Muslim princes. Two of the 9/11 hijackers were from the UAE. Bush has started two wars in the region, mostly to protect access to oil, which the UAE has. Iran is threatening to go nuclear. Hamas has won the Palestinian vote. Even our friend, Pakistan, was responsible for the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The region went ballistic over cartoons, and chants of death to America are frequent. But Bush tells us it's okay, we're safe by having a foreign country in a region that hates us operate and secure our major ports. Is this something we really need to outsource? Boo!
106. Bush and his fundamentalist Christian cohorts love to say they are bringing democracy to the Middle East. Fortunately, Bush seems immune to reality, so the story of Abdul Rahman in Afghanistan won't strike him as ironic. Under the democratic leadership of American-chosen Harmid Karzai, Afghanistan is prosecuting Mr. Rahman for the unspeakable crime of converting to Christianity. Death is the common punishment. All those good Christians who are beating ploughshares into swords and spending billions of their hard-earned dollars can delight in this victory for democracy. Oops!
107. Al Qaeda leader Mustafa Setmarian Nasar was captured in Pakistan. At least Pakistan appears to be fighting the terrorists directly. Hurray!
108. Sentencing 9/11 bit (non)player Zacarias Moussaoui to life imprisonment is fine, though unsatisfying and insignificant overall. Okay
109. We now know that the NSA is spying on nearly all Americans by sifting through details of every telephone call made, all except those made between Quest customers as there apparently is one company that appreciates privacy and search warrants over illegal espionage. Those who have been leaking government-sponsored crimes to the press, aside from those santioned by the oval office, are no doubt sweating it out. Boo!
110. How many non-democratic nations look at Iraq and think they'd like some democracy for their streets, too? They have learned, though, that having nukes will keep them safe from invasion. Nuts!
111. Haditha happens... Why do Americans see such a killing spree against innocent Iraqis as isolated, involving only rogues that do not reflect on American troops or the government? Why do Americans see terrorist attacks against them as a global war that reflects poorly on Islam and Muslim nations who "allow" such crimes? Shameful!
112. Somalia has gone from war lords to Islamists. Are we surprised that the U.S. once again abandoned its moral position and supported to the war lords? Trading one evil for another.
113. al Zarqawi and his "spiritual" advisor are killed. Yeah! Is this a decapitation or will the various Hadithas and a continuing military presence simply enable this Hydra to grow more and meaner heads?
114. The Supreme Court and the Pentagon (no, the Bush administration continues to think otherwise) agree that prisoners captured during this war on terror are prisoners of war. Law and reason triumph
115. North Korea launches various missiles, India suffers multiple attacks on its trains, and Israel enters Lebanon and Palestine to fight off inexcusable attacks on their nation. This war on terror doesn't seem to slow terrorism and has only exacerbated the situation. Bummers!
116. Attorney General Gonzales touted the arrest of seven Miami-based "terrorists" who "planned" to wage a "full ground war" with the U.S. and blow up the Sears Tower. The only problem is they didn't have ties to any terrorist organizations, had no bombs and didn't even have boots, guns or radios. Boo!
117. U.K foils a plot to use liquids to blow up planes, causing massive delays and upsetting air travel dramatically. If the plot is real, this is a great win, even if the ensuing panic was a small terrorist victory in itself. Hurray!
118. A federal judge ruled that the Bush administration's warrantless wiretaps are illegal. Hurray!
119. The U.S. Senate released information in a CIA intelligence report that asserted there was no linkage between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. Yet more evidence that the Bush administration has failed our country and its ideals. Bogus!
120. The Bush administration fights the quaint provisions of Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, saying that "Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment" and "cruel treatment and torture" are unclear. Surely he's also concerned about that other document's unclear prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishments." Boo!
121. The National Intelligence Estimate has found that the Iraq war has increased Islamic radicalism and that terrorist attacks have increased under Bush's so-called war against terror. Hundreds of billions spent, tens of thousands killed, the Army and National Guard depleted, neither peace nor democracy blooming, America's position in the world diminished, with torture, secret courts, secret prisons and increased surveillance of Americans on the rise. What, me worry? Boo!
122. Kim has forced Bush to "tolerate a nuclear North Korea." This "axis of evil" apparently is comfortable that Bush has over-spent his military capital. Oops!
123. Cory Lidle proved that you can't stop terrorists by showing that despite 9/11, you can still fly a plane into downtown New York and crash into a building. Like 9/11, fighter jets scrambled to protect us only after the plane had done its damage. Oops!
124. The Iraq Study Group issued a report making it obvious even to Bush that his policies are a failure. So we can now brace ourselves for more deaths and Bush tries to prove he's nobody's fool, though we'll likely see he's everybody's. Boo!
125. Saddam Hussein is hanged. Yes, the trial was a farce and decidely unfair, but there's no love lost on the passing of Iraq's President who killed many Iraqis. Too bad this had nothing to do with worldwide terrorism. Whatever!
126. Bush authorizes warrantless searches of first class mail. Is there no end to this tyrant's obsession over Americans rather than real terrorists? Boo!
127. The U.S. bombs terrorists enclaves in Somalia after Ethiopian troops ousted the Islamic radicals who took control for six months. Will Bush use this smarter tactic for achieving his goals or will he invade and occupy Somalia and hope for the best? Yeah!
128. The Bush administration finally agrees to follow the law and get court orders before doing wiretaps. Finally!
129. Boston goes hysterical over the "suspicious" marketing of a cartoon show, shutting down much of the city to protect its citizens from some lights. Note that the lights were there for over a week before they were "discovered." Note that the same lights were put in many other cities, none of which panicked. Shameful!
130. The Inspect General for the U.S. Department of Justice reported that all of the U.S. terrorism statistics since 9/11 (arrests, convictions, etc.) are grossly inflated. Considering that the embarrassingly stupid Boston lights scare was labeled as a terrorist hoax, it's no wonder. Boo!
131. Bush "surges" ahead in Iraq, yet bombs destroyed a Baghdad bridge and another hit the parliament inside the supposedly secure Green Zone and yet another 43 killed in Karbala. Terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Morocco and Algeria highlight the simple fact that such attacks cannot be stopped by neglect, war, occupation or military surges. Boo!
132. Virginia Tech's maniacal killer proves once again that terrorism isn't limited to Al Qaeda and that you can't "war" your way to safety. Good grief!
133. The CIA stepped up its search for bin Laden, but they still have no idea where he is. They did note that al Qaeda is spreading terrorists and money into Pakistan. Where's the money coming from? Donations from Iraq where terrorism was introduced by Mr. Bush and his federation of lawless boobs. Nevermind that the flow of money used to be from the leadership down to the grunts in the field. Now the leadership is making money, no doubt a sure sign of being in its "final throes." I suppose the $25 million rewards seems so small when more is made looting American funds given to rebuild Iraq before it was even conquered. And Americans are so good at providing military training and arms to defeat the, uh, um, other Iraqis. Yes, we have no idea who is even on our "side," so you can be sure much of it funds killing our own troops and innocent Iraqis. Fortunately, we've spent years training the terrorists on how best to defeat our Strykers, Humvees and helicopters, and we clearly have won their minds and hearts. Isn't unilateral, unprovoked, undeclared war great? Boo!
134. Several National Intelligence Council reports before Bush invaded Iraq suggested that taking out Saddam would lead to chaos, civil war and a growing Islamic militancy that supports al Qaeda. Gee, you think? Fortunately, our non-defeatist leadership still doesn't believe such reports to be true. Boo!
135. It turns our Mr. Bush has been funding the insurgency through extortion payments made by Iraqi contractors who dramatically inflate prices to pay for "protection" from insurgent attacks. Isn't the surge and billions in monthly military spending supposed to provide protection for reconstruction? At least we're not giving AK-47s to arm the Sunnis. Oops!
136. Alberto Gonzales and Karl Rove resign in short order. Yeah!
137. Osama and his tighter-knit band of crazies are still free and waging war against us. Yes, Osama is free while Bush is no longer in power. Bush started two wars and failed to win either. War and terror in Iraq continue. Iran is emboldened now that Iraq will also be run by similar-minded Shiites. North Korea has gone nuclear. Islamic militancy is even directed against Canada, eh. Afghanistan wallows in poverty, the illegal drug trade funds private militias and warlords, and there's an ongoing resurgence of the Taliban. Pakistan is growing its terrorism, and India is now acting up, along with Nigeria and the Sudan. The anthrax mail attacker may still be free, unless you believe the FBI knows but never prosecuted. Ted Kennedy, Cat Stevens, your nail clippers and bottled water are kept off airplanes while our spies collect tons of data and still can't analyze it. This was a war against terrorists, right? Boo!