| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| 5 common Errors that DNC candidates make about the WOT |
| 2004-04-07 |
| EFL - full article provides justification for the belief that DNC candidates have made and will continue to make the listed errors. The writer also lists the expected consequences of each error as well. Until a few days ago, presidential candidate John Kerry was able to take all the shots he wanted at President Bush’s record in the war on terror, while remaining out of critical range himself. But last week’s 9/11 commission hearings changed all that. The hearings presented a Democratic record on terrorism that is marred by fundamental policy fumbles and ultimately fatal misjudgments. Of course, some of the errors in fighting terrorism in the 1990s could have been -- and were -- made or repeated by the Republican administration of George W. Bush. But a top-five list drawn from the testimony before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States and the reports prepared by commission staff, reveals errors that stemmed from what might be described as the post Cold War, Democratic world-view. This world-view would be unlikely to change as the party’s foreign-policy mantle changes hands from Clinton-Gore to Kerry. Unless, of course, candidate Kerry says it would and explained how. Here’s a detailed enumeration of the mistakes: Error No. 1: Unwillingness to use force to retaliate against terrorism or pre-empt attacks. Error No. 2: Inaction in the face of legal obstacles. Error No. 3: Animus toward the intelligence community. Error No. 4: Fear of unpopularity in the court of domestic and foreign public opinion. Error No. 5: Failure to improve bilateral relations with Arab states and Pakistan. Other errors abound. The largest is of course that neither the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton, nor the Republican administration of George W. Bush felt enough urgency about Al Qaeda to wage all-out war against the group before 9/11. And that’s despite the fact that Al Qaeda had -- as both administrations knew - publicly declared war against the U.S. in February 1998. Beyond such collective guilt, though, lie great differences. The Bush record on fighting terrorism is as it stands. Meanwhile, voters who wonder "how would a Kerry administration prosecute the war on terror?" need to look no further than this list for some idea of the answer. Unless, of course, Kerry disassociates himself from the policies of his Democratic predecessors, or criticizes them as forcefully as his fellow Democrat on the 9/11 commission, Bob Kerrey, did last week. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |