Mission Accomplished

President Bush sealed his fate in history with his own words in a recent interview billed as a reflection on eight years as highest leader of the nation. He stated that 9/11 was the defining moment of his presidency. With that said, one could imagine Osama Bin Laden, watching from a cave semewhere in western Pakistan saying to himself: "Mission Accomplished."

Bush never got it and the world and the nation he led has suffered because of it. For the terrorists, there is nothing more to have been gained from 9/11 than that the U.S. would allow such an event to define the next seven years of its life. This is exactly what terrorists do. Terrorists cannot take control of a nation or a national project as they are a very distinct minority. Terrorists cannot manage a society as they have a plan that is unacceptible to the majority. What terrorists can do and did in the case of President Bush, is make society abandon its real mission for the sake of combating terrorism.

So, President Bush, who began his presidency with the stated mission of implementing a plan of government that he called "compassionate conservatism", ended his presidency by sending the nation and the world into an economic tailspin and leaving the nation captive to two wars that cannot, in any acceptable way, be won.

If the President had responded by saying that he would not allow the terrorists to define America or his presidency, today we would be celebrating seven years of high accomplishement, no wars and a stregthened economy. Instead, the President allowed the terrorists to define the agenda for the nationa and the world, he took his eye off the eonomy, wasted more than a trillion dollars of taxpayer money on wars we cannot win. What a sad day for America when a radical fundamentalist with a burning hate in his heart can capture the agenda of our nation.

It is true that there were no more terrorist attacks on American soil during the remainder of the Bush Presidency. No need to expend such energy for the terrorists when the President himself is helping you to accomplish your mission.