(ThyBlackMan.com) Let’s not get confused, President Obama ended the hunt for Osama bin Laden but it was President George W. Bush who started it. And without Bush, Obama wouldn’t have been able to take credit for killing bin Laden. Bush sowed the seeds for this 10 years ago when he declared the War on Terror. After al Qaeda terrorists, under the direction of bin Laden, high jacked four US airliners, killing 3000 Americans, Bush went into action and lead.
Unlike President Obama who made apologies to the Muslim world for America’s actions after 9/11, Bush warned Afghanistan to turn over bin Laden or else. They chose the later and in 2001 Bush ordered the US to invade Afghanistan. Standing on mangled buildings at Ground Zero days after 9/11 Bush didn’t cower but promised Americans vengeance “the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!”
President Obama does deserve credit for making the capture of bin Laden a priority but his me, myself and I boasting dismisses the hard truth. Obama wouldn’t have been able to gather “enough intelligence to take action, and 
authorize an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice” without the ground work laid by Bush. It was under Bush that greater agency cooperation occurred between agencies, notably the FBI and CIA, on intelligence gathering; US Patriot Act was passed; Department of Homeland Security and TSA created; the capture and killing of Saddam Hussein; the capture and killing of one the 9/11masterminds Khalid Sheik Muhammad.
Finally, the Bush Doctrine, a phrase used to describe Bush’s foreign policy of preemptively exercising the US’s right to self-defense against threats of terrorism and nations that harbor these threats. Bush used this to justify the US invasion of Afghanistan who at the time was sheltering bin Laden and plotting more threats.
A man opined to me this week that Obama appears more concerned with scoring political points than substantive policy and seems to be engaged in a policy role reversal on terrorism. While he was once opposed to all Bush policies, war in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and waterboarding, Obama is now embracing Bush’s counter-terrorism policies. The enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, led the CIA to identify one of bin Laden’s top couriers in 2004 and to gain critical intelligence from 9/11 Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, among others. During an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams, CIA Director Leon Panetta refused to admit the use of waterboarding. It doesn’t seem like Obama is against waterboarding now since it helped him kill America’s most wanted terrorist.
Then there’s Guantanamo, which Obama pledged to close. It’s still open! Why? Because no New Yorker much less any American was going to stand for Khalid Sheikh Mohammad in charge of planning 9/11 and his terrorist stooges to be given a civilian trail in New York City, as Attorney General Eric Holder declared. Public outrage shamed Holder and Obama into a reality check: terrorists cannot be given civilian trials.
Even more stunning and politically motivated was Obama’s victory/2012 campaign day in NYC, peppered with visits to a fire and police station and Ground Zero. During an interview with 60 Minutes, Obama professed he decided not to release a photo of bin Laden’s body because “we don’t want to trot out this stuff as trophies. . . We don’t need to spike the football.”
Funny, that’s exactly what his visit to Ground Zero this week looked like—Obama celebrating the kill of bin Laden. One could argue his visit could incite the same violence from terrorists that he claims he wants to avoid by not releasing the photo. So why do either? How classy of Bush to decline Obama’s invitation to join him at Ground Zero in his victory dance and be used as a prop to pump up Obama’s fledgling presidency.
Days after 9/11 when the fear and grief were fresh in the flesh and spirit of Americans, President Bush addressed Congress with a forceful, comforting speech, uttering these words:
“We will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.”
Capturing the nation’s number one enemy is a huge accomplishment. But I wonder if we will ever hear President Obama take such a strong public stand against terrorism? Maybe he’s too worried about offending our enemies.
Written By Crystal Wright
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