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F
on all counts.
the other night the republican candidates for pres could only come up with 'he's kept us safe for 7 years' as a purportedly positive thing to say.
Well, he has not.
Al Queda never in their wildest dreams thought they could mount an all-out assault. Presuming for the moment the administration story of what went down on 9/11 to be true, they made their attack on 9/11 and were outrageously successful, with three out of four of the planes hitting their targets and the damage in NYC far greater than they anticipated. They penetrated porous security despite various warning signs, bits of evidence that might, if treated seriously by someone bent on 'keeping us safe', have been used to intercede. But, to the contrary, the way was actually cleared for them with the, to be way, way, charitable, coincidental military exercises.
Ok, but AFTER that screw-up, he 'kept us safe', right?
Wrong.
An ill-conceived 'energy policy' hatched by cheney and oil executives has led to a war of choice in which another 3935 of us have died (plus 479 in Afghanistan in another sitzkrieg).
People have been called up from the National Guard three and four times - taken away from their families and sent halfway around the world to be blown up. Another 20,000 have been maimed. They have not been 'safe'.
Oil has gone from 11/bbl to around 100/bbl. Our economy is in the tank as a result. People are losing their jobs to China and elsewhere, while we import products that poison our children. They are not 'safe'.
People are being spied upon in search of 'subversive' reading materials or anti-administration phone conversations. Laws have been passed allowing the administration to, at its discretion, whisk away anyone it deems a threat and hold them without trial, possible subjected to torture. They are not 'safe'.
Al Queda has accomplished what it set out to, with the cooperation of george bush.
Warnings about the danger to NOLA were ignored; the city was devastated, and little has been done about it since. Blame was laid on Democratic politicians for not asking for help correctly. Thousands of people lost their homes and are making do elsewhere, many in makeshift arrangements. They are not 'safe'.
Regulations protecting the environment, workplace safety, food safety have all been relaxed or just plain not enforced. The infrastructure is crumbling; the Minnesota bridge collapse being the most dramatic example. These things did not need Al Queda's contributions to bring about. They are the handiwork of bush and his anti-American policies.
No, he has not 'kept us safe'.
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