The Bush Presidency Had Opportunities for Greatness

When George W. Bush assumed the office of President of The United States, he inherited a country that was on the rebound. With an economy that had shown several years of growth and a federal budget surplus of over $230 billion (according to figures released in September of 2000 by President Clinton) the nation seemed to be heading in the right direction. President Bush couldn't have been given a better set of circumstances to propel the country forward and position himself to be mentioned as one of the great leaders in modern American history.

Then the unthinkable happened.

September 11

On the bright, clear morning of September 11, 2001, four commercial jet airliners, piloted by Al-Qaeda extremists were flown into three of four strategic targets in New York and Washington D.C. killing nearly three thousand people. Suddenly, the future which looked so bright for America turned dark and fearful. Americans were stunned and President Bush found himself thrust into one of those moments where a president's leadership ability is tested.

How would he perform?

America's intelligence agencies immediately went into action comparing notes and pouring over information collected from years of surveillance. Within a matter of hours, it was concluded that Osama Bin Laden, leader of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network, was the one responsible for the attacks. Among the pieces of information was a top secret memo dated August 6th that stated "Bin Laden determined to strike U.S", according to a Washington Post article from May of 2002.

Based on information gathered from several sources, Bin Laden was believed to be hiding in Afghanistan somewhere along the Pakistan border

Armed with this information, on October 7, 2001, Operation Enduring Freedom was launched by The United States, The United Kingdom and NATO in an effort to capture Bin Laden and bring him to justice. Due to the rugged terrain, the process was a long and tedious one but Americans were willing to wait as long as it took.

During this time, The United States had the support of the entire world. Many nations including the middle eastern countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan, united with America in condemning the cowardly acts of Bin Laden. A pro-America sentiment could be felt around the world.

Here in the United States, President Bush.s approval ratings soared to 90% according to a Gallup poll released shortly after the attacks. His "let's go get the guys who did this" attitude bolstered Americans' faith and gave them confidence that those who attacked us would pay for their deeds.

George W. Bush had a Pearl Harbor/ Franklin Roosevelt-like opportunity to lead America to redemption but instead he used 9/11 as an excuse to invade Iraq which quickly diminished America's image and caused the United States to lose the respect of the world community.

The War In Afghanistan

As an American led coalition of troops waged war against the Al-Qaeda harboring Taliban in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan, Americans anxiously awaited news of the capture of Osama Bin Laden. Finding Bin Laden proved to be difficult and it was at this time that the Bush administration began to turn it's eye toward Iraq.

In the weeks that followed the terrorist attacks President Bush announced that America was declaring a war on terrorism which meant that anyone who supported any terrorist activities would be subject to punishment from the American government.

The establishment of this precept eventually led to the Bush White House accusing Saddam Hussein of sponsoring Al-Qaeda terrorist training and declaring that Iraq posed an eminent threat to The Middle East and the world due to Saddam's prior use of chemical weapons on some of his own countrymen (Kurds) after the Persian Gulf War.

After failing to secure U.N. support, a hastily assembled multi-national force led by America troops invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003. More than 100,00 American soldiers were used in the invasion, troops that could have been better utilized in the search for Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan.

Diverting such a large contingency of manpower to another war front drastically hampered the efforts to find Bin Laden and stretched an already thin military force to the breaking point. In a recent trip to Afghanistan, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams reported that several commanders complained to him that they lacked sufficient troops and equipment because of the war in Iraq.

The invasion of Iraq was a success in that Saddam Hussein was removed from power but the insurgency which dragged on for six years following the initial victory over Hussein's army and the fact that no weapons of mass destruction were found were glaring failures of the military action.

The troops that were used to invade Iraq were desperately needed to fight the war In Afghanistan. By "taking their eye off the ball", the Bush administration only succeeded in prolonging the search and capture of Osama Bin Laden and missed another golden opportunity to provide great leadership.

Homeland Security and The Patriot Act

The worst terrorist attack on American soil left it's citizens fearful and apprehensive. In order to try to calm the nation and restore confidence in our ability to be a free society, Congress passed the USA Patriot Act on October 26,2001. This legislation increased law enforcement's ability to search the telephone, e- mail, medical and financial records of individuals suspected of having terrorist ties. It also allowed immigration authorities to detain or deport those who were suspected of terrorist activity.

The Patriot Act gave law enforcement agencies sweeping powers to investigate and monitor the activities of individuals who were under suspicion. Eventually, law enforcement agencies were permitted to monitor telephone conversations via wiretaps which led to allegations by some civil liberties organizations like the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) that the statute was an unconstitutional invasion of privacy.

A 2003 CNN.com posting by Kevin Bohn pointed to a report released from the U.S. Justice Department 's inspector general's office that listed 1,073 Patriot Act-related complaints of civil rights or civil liberties violations in a six month period from December 16, 2002 thru June 15, 2003.

Controversy developed over the enforcement of The Patriot Act because many surveillance activities were performed without obtaining warrants and many searches were conducted without the knowledge or permission of property owners.

Shortly after the Patriot Act was signed into law, Congress passed The Homeland Security Act which led to the creation of The Department of Homeland Security.

The Department of Homeland Security was charged with the duty of preventing further terrorist attacks against America within and without it's borders. It had sweeping powers to monitor air travel, cargo shipments and immigration across the borders of The United States.

These two enactments were intended to make America more secure but in actuality created situations that caused law-abiding Americans to be put on terrorist "watch lists", subjected to airport strip searches and the recording of private telephone conversations

In November of 2007 USA Today reported that according to The Deparment of Homeland Security, more than 15,000 people had appealed to the government since February of the same year to have their names removed from terrorist watch lists which delayed their travel in U.S. airports and border crossings..

Although no further terrorist attacks have occurred, many Americans unfortunately, have been forced to endure aggravating, intrusive and sometimes humiliating experiences resulting from the maladministration of laws that were created to protect them..

Hurricane Katrina

When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August of 2005 it was no surprise. It had been predicted to reach landfall somewhere in the region. What was not predicted was that it would be a category five storm that would almost totally breach New Orleans' levee system and cause more than 1800 deaths.

For more than a week leading weather forecasters had been following the path of the storm and estimated almost to the hour, when the storm would hit in the early morning of August 29.

The strength of the storm was a surprise but the response to the storm by the federal government was a bigger surprise. Even though President Bush had declared a state of emergency two days before the storm hit, Washington seemed to be caught in a time warp as New Orleans and other gulf coast communities languished in the aftermath of the storm.

In the hours after Katrina demolished the majority of New Orleans levee system, newscasts of the damage to the city and the condition of the remaining residents began to emerge and Americans were appalled at what they saw. Early reports by Fox News estimated that 80 per cent of New Orleans was under water.

Dead bodies were seen floating in the streets. People stranded in their homes were seen waving for help from their rooftops. The cry for help from people trapped in deplorable conditions at the New Orleans Super dome was heartbreaking. And the question on everyone's lips was "where is the federal government?"

It was later disclosed that there was some confusion concerning Louisiana Governor Blanco's request for federal aid but due to the extreme conditions that clearly existed it is hard to fathom why the government did not simply act on behalf of New Orleans' citizens and leave the bureaucratic wrangling for later.

Even though federal aid began to trickle in within one to two days. many still criticized the effort believing a natural disaster of Katrina's magnitude should have been met with a more immediate response. Some members of Congress suggested that the relief efforts were slow because the majority of the affected were minorities and poor people. Figures relaesed by The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities showed that one out of three hurricane victims were African American.

Much of the criticism for the slow response to Hurricane Katrina was aimed at FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and it's director Michael Brown. Though members of FEMA were in the New Orleans area within a matter of hours relief for the victims was delayed because of bureaucratic red tape.

And then there were the stories of unconscionable acts while the citizens of New Orleans were suffering and dying.

It was reported that FEMA director Michael Brown was more concerned with what shirt to wear for his television interviews than those suffering in the aftermath of Katrina. A story published in the Hattiesburg American newspaper in Mississippi reported that the day after the storm hit Vice President Dick Cheney ordered the manager of the Southern Pines Electric Power Association to divert power crews, who were restoring power to two hospitals, from the area to substations in Collins, Mississippi that were responsible for supplying power to Colonial Pipeline which carried gasoline and diesel fuel from Texas to the Northeast.

It was reported that the power crews were upset after learning why they were being moved but obeyed the order nonetheless.

Hurricane Katrina was yet another opportunity for George W. Bush and his administration to show exemplary leadership and once again they fell woefully short.

There were at least four critical junctures during George W. Bush's time in office that gave him the opportunity to shine as commander-in-chief but arrogance and an unwillingness to listen to constructive criticism prevented him from seizing these opportunities and elevating himself up among the great leaders in America history.