George Bush, Al Qaeda's Enabler

In the latest example of "Damn I Wish I Had Said That", Andrew Sullivan has a post up titled, "Al Qaeda's Enabler". He is, of course, referring to our president, George Bush. Wow, and this from one of the most ardent supporters of the war way back when and up until Sully realized Bush was a bumbling fool. But still, a startling post. This is just one of several hard hitting paragraphs.

Here is Bush's gift to the victims of 9/11: two new al Qaeda safe havens - in Anbar and in Pakistan. He gave Zarqawi a second career, by refusing to kill him when had a clear shot in 2003, and then allowing him to run rampant across Iraq for several years. Islamists, moreover, are far closer now to getting their hands on WMDs than they were when Bush became president - the very casus belli I foolishly bought to go to war with Saddam. Given the financial boost al Qaeda has gotten from the Iraq invasion, the massive propaganda coup they have won by Bush's authorization of torture, and the triumph of Iran as a consequence of Bush's non-existent "strategy", isn't it simply a fact that Bush is the best thing to happen to al Qaeda since its founding? Is not the record now clear that, whatever their intentions, Bush and Cheney have actually advanced the day when Islamist terrorists will kill and murder more Americans?

In my own defense I have said a lot of this myself but without the talent and style of this experienced journalist and writer. He gets this right and I can't find a thing with which I disagree.

Jim Martin