The anniversary of 9/11
It is a little sad that the US has comprehensively and thoroughly dissipated all the goodwill towards the country in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. And exactly what has the Bush administration achieved since then in the much-hyped war on terror?
Osama bin Laden is still at large
The price of oil has shot through the roof, which means Saudi Arabia has mountains of cash to fund terrorism
The threat of Mohammedan terrorism has reached alarming levels all over the world
The American invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have bogged down seriously
Israel has had its image of invincibility dented
Iran, flush from its success in supporting Hizbollah, is thumbing its nose at the US
America's image has taken a beating all over the world
The Pakistanis are in the thick of every terrorism operation in the world, and yet George Bush will only give the ISI a slap on the wrist
The only thing that is a concrete achievement is the removal of Saddam Hussein, which isn't that big a deal, really.
The question, then, is exactly what has been achieved by George Bush:
Lots of oil contracts have gone to cronies
Iraq's vast oil deposits are (well, sort of) in American hands
Air travel has become a major hassle with all the safety checks
Intrusive violations of privacy have become more commonplace
A Mohammedan propaganda counter-offensive has forced yet more -- and absurd -- appeasement down the throats of Americans (see the latest where a Ypsilanti, MI swimming pool now allows Mohammedan women to enter the pool fully dressed in street clothes
The Republicans are in danger of losing both houses (See the Economist at http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7854412&fsrc=nwlgafree)
Not a pretty picture, is it?
And to go back to the Reagan question: "Are you better off today than you were five years ago?" or the more appropriate one, "Do you feel safer today than you were five years ago?", I suspect the answer will be a qualified "No".
Not exactly a sterling picture of achievement, is it?