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Bush: Complete and Utter Failure
Today, the US government revealed that Al-Qaeda has restored its operative capabilities to pre 9/11 levels:
A new threat assessment from U.S. counterterrorism analysts says that al-Qaida has used its safe haven along the Afghan-Pakistan border to restore its operating capabilities to a level unseen since the months before Sept. 11, 2001.
A counterterrorism official familiar with a five-page summary of the document _ titled "Al-Qaida better positioned to strike the West" _ called it a stark appraisal. The analysis will be part of a broader meeting at the White House on Thursday about an upcoming National Intelligence Estimate.
The official and others spoke to The Associated Press on condition they not be identified because the report remains classified.
The findings suggests that the network that launched the most devastating terror attack on U.S. soil has been able to regroup despite nearly six years of bombings, war and other tactics aimed at dismantling it.
At his news conference Thursday, President Bush acknowledged the report's existence and al-Qaida's continuing threat to the United States. He said, however, that the report refers only to al-Qaida's strength in 2001, not prior to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The group was at its strongest throughout most of that year, with well-established training camps in Afghanistan, recruitment networks and command structures.
Bush used the new threat assessment to show his administration's policies are the right course.
I'd like to say that I'm surprised by Bush's all-too-clear twisting of the facts to suit his agenda, but I don't like to lie.
With this report, though, it's probably time to take some stock of Bush's abilities as a "War President".
1. Al Qaeda resurgent in Afghanistan/Pakistan.
2. Osama bin Laden still at large--not brought to justice "dead or alive."
3. Afghanistan unstable with regular, frequent and bloody attacks by the Taliban threatening the stability of the country.
4. Opium production in Afghanistan increased.
5. Mullah Omar still not caught.
6. Anthrax terrorist(s) undiscovered and, apparently, all but forgotten.
7. A.Q. Khan, the Pakistani distributor of nuclear technology and supplies, not brought to justice in any real, true sense of the word: basically, at home in Pakistan.
8. North Korea's missle capabilities and nuclear capabilities increased; though currently in the process of bringing the country into compliance, security level below the status quo when Bush took office.
9. Iraq war in a complete shambles. Even the green zone is insecure.
10. Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah resurgent and empowered.
11. New terrorist groups developing constantly.
12. Civil liberties at home curtailed, supposedly to make all of the above possible.
13. Free speech rights routinely suppressed, in particular with respect to protests of the current administration, whereby even the wrong word on a tshirt will get you arrested.
14. Budget Surplus turned into enormous budget deficit.
15. Wage earners taxed at a higher rate than Paris Hilton.
16. Governmental corruption condoned and practiced routinely by Republican Party.
17. Whistleblowers punished, silenced and undermined at every step.
18. Increasing income and wealth gap between superwealthy and everyone else.
19. US image abroad fundamentally tarnished for at least a generation.
20. America's moral authority and exceptionalism destroyed forever.
21. Homeland security ineffective: recent test of TSA and government oversight shows lapses in security so large that a terrorist could easily obtain nuclear materials and smuggle them onto an airplane.
22. Frequent Republican sex scandals, of nearly every variety: Vitter (heterosexual prostitutes), Mark Foley (same sex pederasty), Ted Haggard (homosexual prostitute, drugs), Jack Burkman, etc.
23. Frequent and ongoing Republican bribery and influence peddling scandals: Duke Cunningham, Jack Abramoff, Dusty Foggo, Enron, Ted "the internet is a series of tubes" Stevens, etc.
24. Official governmental abuse: Plame/Libby, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, "black" prisons, disappearing US citizens and foreign nationals, illegal wiretapping, politicization of civil administration, etc.
25. Governmental incompetence: Katrina, Iraq, economy, $9 billion missing in Iraq, billions overspent on sweetheart contracts with Halliburton/KBR, Blackwater, etc.
26. Respect for the rule of law all but evaporated, Libby commutation, Cheney secrecy/Plame disclosure/advocacy of torture/refusal to comply with law/4th "secret branch" of government, illegal wiretapping, etc.
Good going, George! Everyone who voted for this jerk should be truly ashamed of themselves and ask forgiveness from those who did not.
Has this administration done anything right?