There you have it. There is no longer any doubt whether the Bush administration's actions are having an impact on terrorist activity. They are having a definite impact. They are increasing terror. Bottom line: No one truck bombed the UN compound in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was in charge.
We have Jordanian Embassy bombings, oil and water pipeline explosions, SAM missile potshots at airliners in Kenya and SAM missile salesmen in the USA, attacks on peacekeepers in Afghanistan, suicide bombings in Israel, Bali, and Saudi Arabia, a rejuvenated Taliban, a nuclear North Korea, a nuclear Iran, Osama bin Laden on the loose, Saddam Hussein on the loose, and the USA in 4th place on the world terror hit list.
What is Bush's response to all of this? Losing is winning. You see, the more it looks like we are losing – bombs and explosions, incinerated Humvees, dead soldiers and civilians, debt, deficit, drugs, etc., the more we are actually winning. It's all very simple to Dubya. Getting our asses kicked is a sign of progress. It is a sign of "desperation" on the part of the "dead-enders". On August 19th, referring to the attack on the UN complex in Baghdad, Bush said:
"Every sign of progress in Iraq adds to the desperation of the terrorists and the remnants of Saddam’s brutal regime."
You know the dead-enders. They are the "give me liberty or give me death" crowd. They have this silly idea that if they keep using irregular tactics against their occupiers, they might actually defeat King George… uh, I mean… President George Bush.
Bush and Blair lies to the contrary, it is now clear that US and British intelligence services as well as any other intelligence services they cared to ask knew that Al-Qaeda had little or no presence in Iraq before the US invasion. Saddam Hussein made sure of that. He didn't want any competition. The only Islamist group in Iraq at all, Ansar-al-Islam, was confined to a small remote corner of northern Iraq. Saddam Hussein could not get at them there because the area was under the protection of the United States via its unsanctioned "Northern No Fly Zone."
Now we see that the US invasion of Iraq is the best thing that ever happened to Ansar-al-Islam. Paul Bremer, the US civilian administrator in Iraq, said there was, "clear evidence of an Al-Qaeda-related terrorist group, the Ansar al-Islam, reconstituting its capabilities inside of Iraq since the war". The group is now operating all over Iraq. It is suspected in the bombing of the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad on august 7th. The Al-Qaeda recruiters haven't had it so good since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. A recently released message to the Al-Qaeda troops exhorts them to go to Iraq to kill Americans. But this is all good news to the Bush Administration. It just shows how desperate all those terrorists are. "Bring them on!" says George. I'll bet the UN personnel really appreciate that.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban seem very desperate. In case no one noticed, those dead-enders are making more comebacks than Freddy Krueger. Last week witnessed the bloodiest week in Afghanistan since the US invasion of that country, with over 100 dead due to bus bombings, rocket attacks, clashes with Taliban militants, and between rival militias in southern and southeastern Afghanistan.
Remember George Bush telling us that the drug trade was a major source of financing for terrorism? It is a sign of how desperate things are in Afghanistan that the production of opium for heroin is up to its highest levels ever. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called the production of opium in Afghanistan a “whale of a problem.” The country now is the largest opium producer in the world – and to think that the Taliban had essentially eliminated opium production in Afghanistan. Now that is desperation! Given President Bush's losing is winning philosophy; Afghanistan is a two-bagger because there, we seem to be losing both the "War on Terror" and the "War on Drugs." Opium production is up in Colombia too. Representative Henry Hyde states that opium production in Colombia has revived. It supplies, he stated, ”more than 60 percent of U.S. heroin.” George Bush, of course, would say that all this just shows how desperate the terrorists and opium producers are for money.
Osama Bin Laden must be very desperate. He keeps sending out inspirational messages to his mujahadeen. On August 18th he exhorted the mujahadeen to go to Iraq to fight US forces. On the 19th he claimed responsibility for the largest blackout in US history. President Bush says we'll "smoke him out". Osama must have an incredible tolerance for smoke. We have been "smoking" for almost two years now. Producing all that smoke, no wonder the Bush administration is opposed to the Global Warming Treaty. But not only are we "smoking him out," we are "tightening the noose" around Osama's neck. I wonder if there is a Guinness Book of World Records entry for "world's largest noose" or perhaps, "worlds slowest tightening noose."
George must be ecstatic about the desperation shown by the terrorists on the home front. According to the London-based World Markets Research Center, the US is the 4th most likely nation to experience a terrorist attack. Of 186 nations, we come in behind only Colombia, Israel, and Pakistan. Remember the terror alert system? You know the Crayola crayon color-coded system any child could understand? Perhaps Dubya could explain to my eight year old son why the code has never dropped below yellow if we are safer from terrorism than we were a year ago. Little David keeps asking me that, but I can't give him a convincing explanation. Perhaps you could do it, Dubya, I mean you being the "education President" and all that? Why I even recall that no national crisis would stop you from finishing your lesson with elementary students.
Actually, this losing is winning philosophy President Bush describes explains a lot to me. Not only does it explain the "War on Terror" and the "War on Drugs, " but it helps me understand how the massive budget deficit is good for our economy, how the massive trade deficit is good for the future of our nation, how the "Patriot Act" is good for my freedom, how refusal to sign the "Global Warming Treaty" is good for the environment, how developing new nuclear weapons helps stop nuclear proliferation, how government secrecy regarding energy, 911, Iraq (mis)intelligence, etc., is good for democracy, how….well, you get the point. In fact, according to this philosophy, George Bush must be the best president ever. But, Helen Thomas already said that.
August 21, 2003
