There Is an Old Illusion - It Is Called Good and Evil

Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard, recently wrote a piece titled "10 Things That Bush Got Right." I realize that Barnes is a biased journalist - he was one of the only Republican pundits to predict a McCain victory in the days leading up to November 4th, he wrote an homage to Bush called Rebel-in-Chief and he is a huge proponent for the war in Iraq - but he did make an interesting claim that peaked my interest. Barnes wrote: "Along with use of secret prisons and wireless eavesdropping...[enhanced interrogation of terrorists] saved American lives. How many thousand lives? We'll never know."

Barnes insists that Bush was correct and justified to revoke the freedoms that our country is emblematic of in the world community because this stopped terrorist plots to kill Americans. And if you don't believe that, you should believe that because we listened in on phone calls, read private emails and tortured valuable information out of prisoners who were not charged with any crime whatsoever, we were able to deter terrorist attacks that were in the works.

In a farewell address, Bush counted off four terrorist ploys that were prevented due to the work of his administration and the policies put in place. A lot of media outlets took this at face value because there has not been terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11/01 and these matters are classified intelligence information that we do not have access too. However, of the four he listed, none of them were past early planning stages or being concocted by people of legitimate ability and connections. If this is what you are going to hang your hat on to claim an effective and successful legacy, you would think that you would want to provide better evidence and examples than can be dismissed by a smug Keith Olbermann on in a five-minute piece on Countdown.

Whether or not there has been an significant work done by the Department of Homeland Security is disputable. I am sure that you can find many reports (as I have) that will vindicate Bush to some degree. But there are just as many that will indicate that Bush and his policies have been ineffective and have advanced the cause of those who want to do us harm.

For instance, investigative journalist Ron Suskind has reported that many CIA analysts believe al-Qaeda leaders have declined to attack the United States for strategic reasons, not because of the Bush administration's counter terrorism policies. Moreover, a 2006 National Intelligence Estimate "found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks."

Bush has said on several occasions that history will redeem his presidency, but only the future can actually redeem him. The United States must repeal all of his policies and methods and fall into a constant state of fear and attack in order to justify the blatant human rights violations that he perpetrated on others and the unnecessary damage that he caused.

He claimed he was the good fighting evil, but there is no good and evil - there are only things men do and things men do not do. Moral certainty is an oxymoron, whether you are Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden or George W. Bush.