Since 9/11 President Bush has taken out the terrorist “safe havens” and training camps of Afghanistan, kicking the repressive zealot Taliban enablers out with them, and established an interim government in their place. A government that is working towards a democratic election process for the near future, however fitfully and slowly that process may be.

   He has toppled a major tyrant for instability in the Middle East in the personage of Saddam Hussein, while simultaneously defeating one of the largest standing armies in the world, in a military campaign that will be studied by generations of American military leaders and historians for years to come.

   President Bush may not have eliminated UBL and his terrorist organization, but he has forced them to show their true perfidy and inhumanly callous disregard for all life, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. He has reduced their presence in Iraq to a mere shadow of their former power, and more importantly caused al Qaeda to be shunned by most of the Muslim world. He has also overseen the establishment of another interim government which held the first democratic elections by Iraq’s citizenry, the first such election in Iraq in more than thirty years.

   President Bush has steadfastly refused to treat stateless terrorists as common criminals, insisted on keeping these terrorists detained at Gitmo, and subject to military court tribunals, and has done all this without the draft.

   President Bush has authorized several extremely sensitive and thus secretive anti-terrorist programs, despite the strong opposition of our more Multicultural and Politically Correct politicians who are more concerned about their next election than they are about the security of our country.  Secretive (gasp) programs that tracked terrorist funding through international banks (which was openly published by that great liberal newspaper the New York Times), and a secret cell phone monitoring program (again exposed by the NYT), among other programs which I assume the NYT has thus far failed to learn of.  

   Finally, President Bush has remained in power ever since 9/11 without another serious terrorist attack occurring within America. In fact he has done such a good job in this last point that people are already eager to forget the tragedy and sense of desperation that followed the destruction of those twin symbols of America’s financial might, and the damage done to the symbol of Americas military might.  

   Contrast this presidents achievements with that of his predecessor. During President Clintons eight years in office America was attacked again and again and the net result was we fired a few missiles into the Afghanistan topography.

   People have forgotten that Clinton had only barely begun his first term when the first World Trade Center truck bombing occurred. In fact they forget if they ever knew that at the time of that blast, President Clinton was right across the river in New Jersey giving a speech on a new jobs program he was pushing. Not only did he refuse to drive across the river to make an appearance, he insisted on branding that act as a “criminal act,” not a terrorist act. He would continue to do so throughout his entire presidency. If he had hoped this would dissuade those pesky terrorists we can only now clearly see just how sadly mistaken he was.

   President Bush will step aside early next year and the historians (long after the current strong emotions have subsided) will determine his true legacy. Unfortunately our nation has become so polarized that those who have noticed the impressive achievements of OUR president appear to have no voice, while those who refuse to accept the reality of OUR president’s achievements (you would think we could all take pride in any good that the highest elected official representing us to the world might achieve) simply refuse to see any  good, despite those successes. With ideology so soundly trumping pragmatism now-a-days, its no wonder this is such an unpopular topic.