2008 Woodie Awards
The Foreign Policy of George Bush (Pro)
William Still
Issue date: 9/29/04 Section: Perspectives
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On September 11th 2001, this great country was violently attacked, and war was declared by terrorists who wanted nothing but to disrupt our way of life and kill as many of us as possible. In the aftermath of this horrific attack, I remember how president Bush went before the American people and told them how this war was not going to be easy, or only against al Qaeda. He said that this war was against good and evil; and that you were either with us or with the terrorists. In this war between good and evil there are many people that threaten the security of the American people. Al Qaeda is not the only thing that we must worry about. We need to take a serious look at not only at who attacks us, but also those countries and dictators who are willing to support and harbor the animals that do so.
The first step in our war on terror was Afghanistan. Our armed forces went in and disrupted the al Qaeda terror network, and we have captured or killed the majority of the terrorists that once were protected by the Taliban. While many al Qaeda loyalists were killed or captured, we have still been unsuccessful in retrieving Osama Bin Laden. Many see this as a failure, but even though he has not been caught he is on the run. This means he is in no position to plan attacks as easily as before we invaded Afghanistan. Not to mention his entire infrastructure in Afghanistan has been uprooted, making it much more difficult to coordinate forces like prior to 9/11.
Now, if we haven't caught Osama Bin Laden then why should we do anything else? We can't just focus on one aspect of this war; we have to think about who is willing to harbor and aid terrorists. There are many countries that don't like the United States, and Iraq was one of the highest on the list.
Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, which was an aggressive move and called for the UN to step in. After all was said and done, Iraq had been pushed out of Kuwait and restrictions were placed to limit its actions. The UN weapons inspectors did their best to monitor Iraq while keeping within the mandates of the cease-fire agreements. Iraq, however, refused to accept certain resolutions, and as early as 1994 threatened to cease cooperation with the UN inspectors. This defiance came to a pinnacle in 1998 when Iraq clearly came out and stated they would no longer cooperate with the United Nations Special Commission. This action was the last straw. Coalition forces responded to Iraq's defiance with operation Desert Fox. The response, however, was not a positive one. On December 15th, Iraq announced that it would never allow UN inspectors into their country.
The first step in our war on terror was Afghanistan. Our armed forces went in and disrupted the al Qaeda terror network, and we have captured or killed the majority of the terrorists that once were protected by the Taliban. While many al Qaeda loyalists were killed or captured, we have still been unsuccessful in retrieving Osama Bin Laden. Many see this as a failure, but even though he has not been caught he is on the run. This means he is in no position to plan attacks as easily as before we invaded Afghanistan. Not to mention his entire infrastructure in Afghanistan has been uprooted, making it much more difficult to coordinate forces like prior to 9/11.
Now, if we haven't caught Osama Bin Laden then why should we do anything else? We can't just focus on one aspect of this war; we have to think about who is willing to harbor and aid terrorists. There are many countries that don't like the United States, and Iraq was one of the highest on the list.
Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, which was an aggressive move and called for the UN to step in. After all was said and done, Iraq had been pushed out of Kuwait and restrictions were placed to limit its actions. The UN weapons inspectors did their best to monitor Iraq while keeping within the mandates of the cease-fire agreements. Iraq, however, refused to accept certain resolutions, and as early as 1994 threatened to cease cooperation with the UN inspectors. This defiance came to a pinnacle in 1998 when Iraq clearly came out and stated they would no longer cooperate with the United Nations Special Commission. This action was the last straw. Coalition forces responded to Iraq's defiance with operation Desert Fox. The response, however, was not a positive one. On December 15th, Iraq announced that it would never allow UN inspectors into their country.