2008 Woodie Awards
Rebuttal: Bush Vs Kerry Debates (I)
Kevin Agnese
Issue date: 10/13/04 Section: Perspectives
- Page 1 of 2 next >
At the first presidential debate John Kerry never said that Osama Bin Laden was the only man to fight and kill in the war on terror, as William P. Still claims. Kerry has repeatedly said that he would find and kill the terrorists who threaten our nation. Note, he said terrorists, not terrorist. Still talks about foolish thinking, well his assertion that Kerry would stop the war on terror once Bin Laden is captured, is perhaps the most foolish thing that I've heard in this campaign. Kerry said: "And Iraq is not even the center of the focus of the war on terror. The center is Afghanistan, where, incidentally, there were more Americans killed last year than the year before; where the opium production is 75 percent of the world's opium production; where 40 to 60 percent of the economy of Afghanistan is based on opium; where the elections have been postponed three times. The president moved the troops, so he's got 10 times the number of troops in Iraq than he has in Afghanistan, where Osama Bin Laden is. Does that mean that Saddam Hussein was 10 times more important than Osama Bin Laden -- I don't think so." Of course, Senator Kerry is right. Remember, Bin Laden and al-Qaeda were responsible for the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2001, not Saddam Hussein and Iraq. When the senator discusses the war against Bin Laden, he is talking about killing the main leader of al-Qaeda. He won't stop there, of course. He will finish the job in Afghanistan, unlike the president.
In his article, William P. Still says, "Kerry said that we had bin Laden surrounded and we lost him because we, outsourced the job to Afghan warlords. Well the fact is not only do we not know if bin Laden was truly in those mountains but the Afghan war lords probably knew the terrain better than any of our solider because they were from that area." This proves that Still has a lack of knowledge when it comes to these events. Vast military intelligence sources have proved that Bin Laden was hiding in the mountains of Tora Bora, and we could have gotten him. Bush, instead took our military, the best in the world, out of the site, and turned the job over to Afghan warlords, many of whom had been fighting with Bin Laden a few weeks earlier. In an article that appeared in the Christian Science Monitor in March 2002, Philip Smucker correctly asserts that even the vice president thought Bin Laden was in the mountains of Tora Bora. Smucker writes: "And on Nov 29 (2001), Vice President Dick Cheney told ABC's "Primetime Live" that, according to the reports that were coming in, bin Laden was in Tora Bora. '"I think he was equipped to go to ground there,"' Cheney said. '"He's got what he believes to be a fairly secure facility. He's got caves underground; it's an area he's familiar with."' Smucker continues by saying, "The Afghan warlords estimated that Tora Bora held between 1,500 and 1,600 of the best Arab and Chechen fighters in bin Laden's terror network." Personally, I trust our military more than warlords who are loyal to Osama Bin Laden.
In his article, William P. Still says, "Kerry said that we had bin Laden surrounded and we lost him because we, outsourced the job to Afghan warlords. Well the fact is not only do we not know if bin Laden was truly in those mountains but the Afghan war lords probably knew the terrain better than any of our solider because they were from that area." This proves that Still has a lack of knowledge when it comes to these events. Vast military intelligence sources have proved that Bin Laden was hiding in the mountains of Tora Bora, and we could have gotten him. Bush, instead took our military, the best in the world, out of the site, and turned the job over to Afghan warlords, many of whom had been fighting with Bin Laden a few weeks earlier. In an article that appeared in the Christian Science Monitor in March 2002, Philip Smucker correctly asserts that even the vice president thought Bin Laden was in the mountains of Tora Bora. Smucker writes: "And on Nov 29 (2001), Vice President Dick Cheney told ABC's "Primetime Live" that, according to the reports that were coming in, bin Laden was in Tora Bora. '"I think he was equipped to go to ground there,"' Cheney said. '"He's got what he believes to be a fairly secure facility. He's got caves underground; it's an area he's familiar with."' Smucker continues by saying, "The Afghan warlords estimated that Tora Bora held between 1,500 and 1,600 of the best Arab and Chechen fighters in bin Laden's terror network." Personally, I trust our military more than warlords who are loyal to Osama Bin Laden.