John M. Tomaszewski – 10/1/06

This page was last updated on October 2, 2006.

Bush has failed us; John M. Tomaszewski; Beaver County Times; October 1, 2006.

Since September 2004, this is at least the 15^th letter from Mr. Tomaszewski spouting liberal talking points, with most bashing Republicans and/or President Bush.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“President Bush continues to speak about terrorism as the number one problem facing America.

“Let us not forget that the terrorists’ acts of Sept. 11, 2001, were done on the Republican Party’s watch and President Bush’s watch. The Bush administration, together with the CIA, failed us in the 9/11 terrorist acts.”

[RWC] This sentence is absolutely correct. That said, Mr. Tomaszewski failed to note several points.

First, planning and execution of the 9/11 attack began during the Clinton administration. This weekend we saw video of two of the hijackers yucking it up in Afghanistan in January 2000.

Second, President Bush kept Clinton’s CIA (George Tenet) and FBI (Louis Freeh) chiefs in an effort minimize inter-administration security gaps.

Third, President Bush and National Security Director Condoleezza Rice kept Clinton’s National Security Council counter-terrorism group intact, including its leader Richard Clarke.

Fourth, Islamofascist attacks on the U.S. didn’t begin on September 11, 2001. They began at least as far back as 1979 when Islamofascists invaded our Tehran embassy (U.S. territory) and held 50+ American hostages for 444 days. During the eight years leading up to 9/11, Islamofascists attacked us on U.S. soil (1993 WTC bombing), in Kenya (embassy), in Saudi Arabia (Khobar Towers military barracks), in Somalia, in Tanzania (embassy), and in Yemen (USS Cole).

Fifth, neither the Bush nor Clinton administrations attacked the U.S. Islamofascists did. Why can’t some people get that into their head?

“The Iraq and Afghanistan wars are the No. 1 problem facing America. The Iraq War was a terrible mistake; no weapons of mass destruction were found and no ties to the terrorist acts of 9/11 were found in Iraq. These were Bush’s reasons to go to war with Iraq.”

[RWC] Mr. Tomaszewski, either provide proof President Bush claimed Iraq was involved with 9/11 or stop making this claim. If President Bush made this allegation, you should be able to provide the exact quote and tell us when and where he said it.