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Bush Wrecked 9/11
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The eighth anniversary of the attacks should be a day of unity and remembrance. Instead, George W. Bush’s manipulation of the legacy has led to divisiveness.
As we approach tomorrow’s eighth anniversary of the September 11th attacks—the first since President George W. Bush left office—there’s been a creeping complacency to the remembrance, a feeling of obligation bordering on inconvenience. It’s as if America wants to turn the page, but can’t quite bring itself to ignore the hole that’s still at ground zero or the war that’s still going on against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
I understand, of course, the natural fading of memory. Time marches on. But 9/11 has defined our stubbornly nameless decade, along with the bookend election of Barack Obama. And the roots of the tragedy remain firmly in place. Eight years after Pearl Harbor, the closest historic parallel, World War II was four years over. We are still engaged in this wider war against Islamist terrorism and the original war—the "good war"—in Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden is still un-captured. The Taliban is resurgent. Al Qaeda is on the run but not yet destroyed. They still want to kill us.
The Freedom Tower has been downsized and renamed “One World Trade Center” so as not to offend prospective Chinese tenants who get nervous around the word 'freedom'.
So who is to blame for this? The largest portion of blame belongs to the group that made 9/11 their legacy: the Bush Administration. They politicized what was and should have remained a day of national unity and resolve, turning it into a partisan invective and an excuse for an unrelated war. This created cynicism—and that has lead to 9/11 amnesia.
Public support for the war in Afghanistan is plummeting, even as the Obama administration refocuses its efforts there against the growing protest of liberals and neo-isolationists calling for withdrawal. A CNN/Opinion Research Poll found that 57 percent of Americans now say they oppose U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, with 42 percent supporting. Seventy percent of Republicans support the war, and by the transitive property, Obama’s policy—but independents’ support has fallen 10 percent since April, moving toward Democrats’ 75 percent opposition. This is a troubling trend with geopolitical implications, as any reader or viewer of Charlie Wilson’s War ought to appreciate. Power vacuums in that keystone state breed more violence. History’s interconnection doesn’t stop with our attention span.
There’s also been a conspicuous retreat from the language of 9/11. The phrase “war on terror” has been abandoned by the Obama administration, presumably for sounding too Rumsfeldian. In its place is the far less sonorous “Overseas Contingency Operation”—a label designed to be forgotten.
The Freedom Tower—once conceived to be the cornerstone of the redeveloped ground zero, standing tall at a symbolic 1,776 feet—has been downsized and renamed “One World Trade Center” so as not to offend prospective Chinese tenants who get nervous around the word 'freedom'. The outcry has not been loud enough to change the developers’ mind.
The final insult is, for me, the most frustrating – the persistent paranoia of 9/11 “truther” conspiracy theorists threatens to exceed the sober resolve of the average American citizen when it comes to keeping the memory of 9/11 alive and actionable. Ex-green-jobs czar Van Jones’ willingness to sign their petition—and David Axelrod’s failure to clearly condemn it on-air during an interview on Meet the Press—is a sign of these muddying waters.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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Martin Jacques is the cofounder of the UK think tank Demos, writes a regular column for The Guardian, and is a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics Asia Research Centre. His new book, When China Rules the World, is available now.
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Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
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John P. Avlon writes a column for The Daily Beast and is author of the forthcoming Attack of the Wingnuts, to be published in January by Beast Books. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
The Next Wingnut Attack
John P. Avlon writes a column for The Daily Beast and is author of the forthcoming Attack of the Wingnuts, to be published in January by Beast Books. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
Glenn Beck's Mob Rule
John P. Avlon writes a column for The Daily Beast and is author of the forthcoming Attack of the Wingnuts, to be published in January by Beast Books. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
...the Bush Administration. They politicized what was and should have remained a day of national unity and resolve, turning it into a partisan invective and an excuse for an unrelated war. This created cynicism...
And, by the way, tremendous shame for decent American citizens.
Bull. The MoveOn.Orgs of the world wanted revenge for the 2000 election and attacked Bush for everything. Divide, ridicule, marginalize is their motto. And it worked, they got their precious "majority". They also got a country that hates itself and each other. ENJOY!!!
2000?
The Bush Administration got criticized for everything because they were so incredibly incompetent, not because they "won" the 2000 election. We're still standing hip-deep in the shambles of Bush's eight years because it's taking a long time to clean up AND the Repubs are obstructing every action for the sake of their own image--they can't deal with it if Barack does anything successfully.
By accusing the Democrats of the strategy of "divide, ridicule, and marginalize," you are doing exactly what the Repub strategy has always been--Projection Debate. Take the worst things that you are doing and accuse the opposition of doing that very thing, in order to diffuse the criticism that will eventually come your way. (Courtesy of Lee Atwater and Karl Rove. Need I say more?)
Get a grip, Cheney had lots of opportunity to be the hero but squandered the chance. Now they live in infamy and the country has pride again in a President who fights the good fight. "Majority"? Are you insane? Have a nice day?
"A country that hates itself and each other."
You really think something like that happens overnight? Or in 8 months? What a douche!
Yes, it is Bush's fault. Thanks for letting us know. We both can not be living in the same country.
I cannot be living in the same country with people who still believe the emperor was wearing clothes.
You MUST read and share this account from 9/11. http://thehappeningstory.blogspot.com/. We should not have let this singular tragedy be used as an excuse to expand tragedy around the globe. It's good to remember those that never had an agenda beyond 9/11--those Americans we lost.
Excuse me? A "singular tragedy?" Surely you haven't forgotten the first, SUCCESSFUL, attack on the WTC? You know, the attack for which Ramsi Yousef is serving life in a maximum security prison? Or the scores of attacks on planes, trains, buses, embassies, ships, military barracks, resort hotels, cafes, etc, etc, etc, etc? What 9/11 proves is that the US government doesn't "do" national security.
President Cheney orchestrated, cheered and now pimps 9/11. The GOP, keeping Americans safe from Nov. 2000 until Sept. 10, 2001.
Another "Truther"....why don't you go back in the hole you crawled out of. Idiot.
What an intelligent reply. You're my hero. Good point too!
Better yet why didn't Cheney stay in his hole/bunker? Bush didn't have a chance with him on board. Cheney not only ruined the country he ruined Bush's legacy.
Well said, the wit of the right on display again. What a joy!!
January 20 2001
To November 11 2001.
U are right.
Too many folks who are afraid to acknowledge that we have cultural enemies like to forget about 2-26. 2-26-1993 was the real start of this that was largely ignored. National Security Failure? You bet.
So, how do we make the Muslim fundmentalists really like us. Two ways, convert ( you ladies will love the hijab), or kill yourself. Take your pick. Otherwise, realize that their culture and ours has a fundamental conflict, we are infidels to them, and they feel no remorse at slaughtering us. There is much that they must resolve amongst themselves before we can reconcile. Currently, the fundamentalists and petty despots hold the bully pulpit.
This does not bode well for peace between us.
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And that was
The Al Queda plan-
Wasn't it?
You betcha!
I think the ill-named "Patriot Act", Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, Terror Threat Levels, all combined to be be a cancer on this country for the past 8 years.
Most of all, our arrogance and unilateralism lost us the goodwill of the rest of the world.
That's the damn truth. They killed 3000 which was horrible, but the amount of US military and innocent Iraqui lives lost far exceeds that amount, not to mention money we spent on a useless war. Cheney was the WMD.
I have to disagree with Avlon on a couple of points.
He says the worst thing for him is the "persistence" of "truthers". For one thing, this is NOT worse than Pres. Bush's exploitation of 9/11 both for political/election purposes and to start his long-wanted and unrelated war. NOTHING in US history is worse than that. Second, the "truthers" are a very small segment of society whom no one really takes seriously. They're more like a mosquito that every once in a while buzzes around your ear and is more an annoyance that needs to be swatted away. So they are NOT worse than a president exploiting a catastrophe for his own purposes.
The second point I disagree with is where he disparages treating terrorism as a crime rather than war. When treated as a crime, authorities have actually been more effective at dealing with it. Those terrorist attacks were thwarted via old-fashioned crime fighting techniques, whereas Bush's war only proved to inflame the passions of radical Islamists and reportedly recruit more as well as causing a dangerous increase in anti-Americanism abroad (and it was Bush's State Dept. that called the record-high levels of anti-Americanism 'dangerous').
Treating it as a war I think only feeds right into bin Laden's desires and even gives his cause some perverted credibility. Treating them as criminals, which is what they are, actually defeats bin Laden's goals and tells him, "We're not going to play your game. We're going to round you up best as we can, impose on you our system of justice rather than yours of bloodshed, and while we take your actions seriously - because murdering innocent people over political causes is serious - we are not going to feed your cause by rewarding it with the war you want.
Terrorism IS criminal and should be treated as such.
Took the comment right out of my fingers: terrorisim IS more like crime than war.
Of course it is criminal, it always was. So was the Halliburton War, a war where private industry discovered the profit margin was better in cans of coke than tanks.
Some interesting points but coming from the source I have to question motive behind story. I have watched John Avalon on CNN and read some of his postings on TDB-the only comment I have is this: John apparently enjoys his looks, likes to make a loud thunder on CNN with his carefully crafted words and prepared zingers towards the Right-but no one's buying it! Did you ever notice the CNN host will just stare at him and move on...I won't read anymore of his posting on TDB...try and lean a little more towards the middle John...BUSH is OUT OF OFFICE. HEALTHCARE, THE DEFICIT, JOB LOSS...perhaps a story might come to mind on one of these topics?? Or is there not a righty agenda to attack on those fronts...stay focused, stay current.
Just a thought.
Bush politicized the day where most of us feel uneasy even mourning for the victims of that national tragedy. It had to be the most disgraceful ways he cynically used it to further his agenda.
Let me say this...! SKULL AND BONES men and NEW GLOBAL ORDER as Liz Che-eny put it.
9/11 -- this should never have been cast as a "national" tragedy -- it was a global tragedy. On this date, in the most international of cities, modern civilization was attacked -- and peoples of 60 nations perished. To this day, I've never understood why the US government positioned this event as solely an attack on America. It was an attack on the universality of human rights, which has an agenda to free suppressed and oppressed individuals worldwide, and those who attacked us wish ultimately to defeat this purpose in their own maniacal aim to turn back centuries of social development. When we begin to interpret 9/11 in this light, and this light only, only then will we know what we must do to defeat our enemies.
Once again the supporters of the Bush Crime Family never cease to amaze me. They are so blinded by stupidity & ignorance along with their hatred if anything progressive they are unable to see the Bush/Cheney Crime Family for what it was, a pathetic bunch of cold war thinking men who are guilty of Treason & pre meditated murder of tens of thousands on Americans as well as non Americans.
This jerk of a Congressman is simply put an ignorant jerk who should be thrown out of the House by the leader for this type of behavior or at least sanctioned in some way for being a total idiot with a loud big mouth.
The actions of this ignorant person have nothing to do with what the Bush/Cheney Crime Family did or the harm they have put this Nation & the world into. This loud mouthed idiot is just that, loud mouthed ignorant jerk, period the end.
Are you calling someone else a jerk and idiot while posting this under the wrong article? I'm not sayin'... I'm just sayin'...... Know what im sayin'?
Its probably a good thing that 9/11 is not a day of unity. For several years, it was the phony unity of shouting down others as "unpatriotic." It was the unity of not asking questions, going along with everything people in government did, even when it was contrary to our values, our institutions, our laws, our prestige in the world. Enough Americans saw through it and eventually made their opinions public enough and now "unity" isn't being crammed down our throats.
Eventually, there will be freedom to question openly and I hope I live to see it:
Our multi-trillion dollar military was impotent on the one day in our lives that the US was under attack; all they could do was fly Bush around the country like someone was after him.
The President of Pakistan told David Gregory on Meet the Press a few months ago that his intelligence sources say nothing has been heard out of Osama bin Laden for 7 years. No follow-up from Gregory, of course, but it got said. Who put out that "bin Laden audio tape" a few days before the 2004 election?
If they tortured these people (Khalid, Ramzi bin al Shibh, Zubayda), then the information isn't just tainted, its worthless. Whatever the heck they said is not credible. Whatever details of "9/11 planning" they said is not reliable. The 9/11 Commission relied on stories that came from torture. All of that needs to be separated out and if its separated out, whats left of the official version? Thats got to be done.
I wish every post had a fraction of the thought and logic this one does.
Sorry, 15 minutes in the Penalty Box for excessive use of Logic and Reason.
After hearing that Gerald Posner is a contributor to the Daily Beast I just had to join in the conversations. You all have to read Posners book "Secrets of the Kingdom" a very good illustration of the America blend of politics and the close association of the Bush family has with the Arabs. Posner was on C-Span talking about his book and very impressive, so I bought it. I loand it to a friend and now he said it is in paperback.
America you have to understand that I have no personal attachment to either party Democrat or Republican but after reading and looking up much of the resources that Posner had written about I conclude Posner was very gracious in just saying the congressional investigation committee gave Bush a pass.
In my judegment Bush and Company or like some call them the Bush crime family is guilty of complicity at the least in negligence of the highest order if not out right holding the door the open for the terrorist of 911. Bush As personal friends of the Bin Laden family for decades with money deals that span millions if not billion with secret deals, including stuff with the Carlyle group and his father poppy Bush have moved their family fortune successfully at the expense using American resources. That said the war was and is still a contradiction and cash cow for the bush family.
They, Bush and Company are out right repulsive to criminal, dealing an out right horrible social economic situational disaster after leaving the political office. More over the torture issue is criminal; that with the Open market "Derivative trading" is appalling especially with secret Federal Reserve and Treasury deals through the years with in the International money market, World Bank, and international Monetary Fund concerns at the same time linked to the War and International secret prisons.
Face it; it is all disgusting and hard to take about but must be with an embarrassment that will likely destroy the current Republican leadership. Here, there is no recourse but to hold Bush accountable anf those with him because the World is already hinting, the United Nations, that the American dollar be replaced as the Standard. We all know if this happens and the Arabs want payment for the oil we buy in Euros our economy will sink into an abyss of uncharted areas unlike a depression. The Republicans will make the blame on Obama's Health care plan because it will pass, however, as the real reason was and is Bush and Companies economic war and terrorism policies was nothing more than trillion dollar profiteering via American tax money.
To the Penalty Box for you also, much too reasoned a thought process for this format. many will only feel the breeze on the pointed portion of the cranium.
For freedom we may have to kill you, for freedom you may have to die.
Number one at liberating, liberating life from body.
Watching spirits fly, freedom from life.
Anti-Flag
I'll say it Van Jones was a bonehead for insinuating the the Bush administration was complicet in the attacks and so is everyone else in this camp. But the article also mentions of how much that Bush politicized this horrible tradegy this alone with the FACT that they ignorred many, many warnings and then there acrobetic style of talking about patriotism while denying it ( Americans are idiots). Finally, they justified many of thier unamerican acts in the name of 9-11 gave the opening to these crazy conspiracy theories.
Bush's cronies duped him. The real WMD was Cheney and company.
9/11 was the beginning of the Bush legacy, unfortunately. We were not on war footing with Islamic terro as we should have been well into the Clinton years. Since 9/11, with the Patriot Act and the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq we have not been hit in 8 years. Al Queda is having trouble recruiting suicide bombers to carry out one way missions (go figure). Plus, enhanced interrogtion techniques have harvested intelligence that thwarted other strikes here and abroad. That is the Bush legacy and for that I thank Presicent Bush and hope President Obama continues the proactive anti-terror measures that Bush started.
Meaningless argument.
You can blame Clinton for 9/11 all you want. But the truth remains....there were no attacks on American soil during 8 years of Clinton AND 9/11 happened on Bush's watch.
Try again.
The Patriot Act prevented nothing. It only took away freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. The system before 9/11 was working well enough to warn Cheney, Bush and Co of the attacks. But they ignored the warnings and allowed the tragedy to unfold. They were the ones too incompetent to stop it. Now they trumpet their triumphs of keeping us safe AFTER 9/11. What unmittigated brass.
The Patriot Act should be revoked forthwith.
"There's been a creeping complacency to the remembrance, a feeling of obligation bordering on inconvenience." Really???
Sorry "Bush Wrecked 9/11" for you, but I don't know anyone who feels *inconvenienced* by remembering the events of 9/11 and after reading the article I feel I must of missed how you could substantiate such a broad generalization.
It also seems a contradiction to blame Bush for his "manipulation of the legacy," in some way implying this was not the opening salvo on the "War on Terror," and then going on to say Bush was successful in helping to thwart at least 14 known terrorist attacks. His political opponents are the ones who created the cynicism you mentioned which led to such divisiveness.
Perhaps it was because I one of those fellow witnesses you mentioned, covered in soot, that I while I strongly agree with the closing sentiments of the article, I still have a bad taste in my mouth from those opening comments.
Eight years later, and the Twin Towers are still a big hole in the ground and the perpetrators of the attack are still at large. Al Qaeda won. Man, they sure got some bang for their buck.
George Bush was Al Qaeda's best PR person, he elevated them from grubby nut jobs in caves to an existential threat to the West, the "clash of the civilizations."
A previous poster was right- solid police work is what thwarted subsequent attempted attacks. Instead, Bush and Cheney declared war on two sovereign countries. Is that the best way to track down and round up a band of criminals?
America is now a defeated country, broke, divided, gnawing on its own entrails. Al Qaeda won.
Not mentioned in the article is the fact that Al Qaeda's attack on the U.S. was entirely justified. They wanted the U.S. out of Muslim countries. That is still their goal. And BTW, the Taliban did not attack the U.S. And perhaps if we bothered to assist the Palestinians and leave Iran alone, we might actually engender some goodwill.
I have a tin-foil hat that will fit you just right. Anyone who states that an attack killing 3,000 innocent civilians was justified is either crazy, evil, or both. You have my pity.
So, let me get this straight. We did nothing to deserve 9/11 and yet they killed almost 3K of us. They've not ever stopped trying to kill more of us since then, to this day.
And you blame this on ... George W Bush?
Good grief.
Did you forget about the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut? Did you forget about the first WTC bombing?
How freaking clueless can you be?
Here's a thought ... find a hole and crawl into it.
The article didn't blame Bush for 9/11. It blamed him for using the attack to further his policies (right or wrong) and thus ruining any sense of bringing the country together during a tragic event.
His policy was to keep this country safe from another attack which he accomplished despite resistence from the Democrats (Harry Reid "I killed the Patriot Act").
The only way a nominally right-of-center pundit such as John Avlon can get published by the twits at 555 W. 18th St. in Manhattan is to attack Republicans. Avlon will do what is required to get a check. It's not as if the guy has anything more interesting to say, in any case.
Oh, please! Are kidding me? You can't remember 9/11 because Bush ruined it for you? How pathetic are you? You can't remember the individuals that died that day because of George Bush? My suggestion is for you or anyone that cannot mourn our fellow American's that died because they are so blinded by their hatred for someone else, it is time for you to seek professional help. Not to mention for those of us that are ACTUALLY MOURNING the individuals that we lost that day, we don't want to hear about your whining and crying of how this day reminds you of George Bush. In fact the best way to allow other people to mourn and remember this day for what it is, is for you to shut the h*ll up! I'm thinking about the almost 3,000 people that lost their lives and your thinking about George Bush - I'm sorry who isn't remembering?
RawhideRex if you are going to make a FACTUAL statement please get your facts staright first.
The first attack by terriosts on the World Trade Center was
2/26/1993 - during Bill Clinton's watch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center_bombing
And Clinton and company did NOTHING to prevent such an attack from occuring in the future. Which is why 9/11 even occured! Clinton's administration was handing out student visas like candy to any illegal alien, etc that wanted one.
Once the terriosts realized how easy it is to get into this coutnry and how easy it is to attack a major landmark, with a high concentration of people, they only had to go back and try again. If there was enough expolsive in the first attack the World Center would have been gone then.
How long were the bombers in our neighborhoods, taking flying lessons and living among US before the plan was carried out????
How can they claim to keep US safe when it took a long time to be among us and then bomb US........
Joan and the rest of her media pals blame today's rain storm, traffic accident and upset stomach on Bush. She believes that it is the only way to get a job in that industry. Otherwise Joannie would be on the unemployment line.
Thank you.
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