History Will Judge

[Warph]

September 19, 2008
History Will Judge
By Charles Krauthammer

WASHINGTON -- For the last 150 years, most American war presidents -- most notably Lincoln, Wilson, Roosevelt -- have entered (or re-entered) office knowing war was looming. Not so George Bush. Not so the war on terror. The 9/11 attacks literally came out of the blue.

Indeed, the three presidential campaigns between the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11 were the most devoid of foreign policy debate of any in the 20th century. The commander-in-chief question that dominates our campaigns today was almost nowhere in evidence during our '90s holiday from history.

When I asked President Bush during an interview Monday to reflect on this oddity, he cast himself back to early 2001, recalling what he expected his presidency would be about: education reform, tax cuts and military transformation from a Cold War structure to a more mobile force adapted to smaller-scale 21st-century conflict.

But a wartime president he became. And that is how history will both remember and judge him.

Getting a jump on history, many books have already judged him. The latest by Bob Woodward describes the commander in chief as unusually aloof and detached. A more favorably inclined biographer might have called it equanimity.
In the hour I spent with the president (devoted mostly to foreign policy), that equanimity was everywhere in evidence -- not the resignation of a man in the twilight of his presidency but a sense of calm and confidence in eventual historical vindication.

It is precisely that quality that allowed him to order the surge in Iraq in the face of intense opposition from the political establishment (of both parties), the foreign policy establishment (led by the feckless Iraq Study Group), the military establishment (as chronicled by Woodward) and public opinion itself. The surge then effected the most dramatic change in the fortunes of an American war since the summer of 1864.

That kind of resolve requires internal fortitude. Some have argued that too much reliance on this internal compass is what got us into Iraq in the first place. But Bush was hardly alone in that decision. He had a majority of public opinion, the commentariat and Congress with him. In addition, history has not yet rendered its verdict on the Iraq War. We can say that it turned out to be longer and more costly than expected, surely. But the question remains as to whether the now-likely outcome -- transforming a virulently aggressive enemy state in the heart of the Middle East into a strategic ally in the war on terror -- was worth it. I suspect the ultimate answer will be far more favorable than it is today.

When I asked the president about his one unambiguous achievement, keeping us safe for seven years -- about 6 1/2 years longer than anybody thought possible at the time of 9/11 -- he was quick to credit both the soldiers keeping the enemy at bay abroad and the posse of law enforcement and intelligence officials hardening our defenses at home.

But he alluded also to some of the measures he had undertaken, including "listening in on the enemy" and "asking hardened killers about their plans." The CIA has already told us that interrogation of high-value terrorists like Khalid Sheik Mohammed yielded more valuable intelligence than any other source. In talking about these measures, the president mentioned neither this testimony as to their efficacy nor the campaign of vilification against him that these measures occasioned. More equanimity still.

What the president did note with some pride, however, is that beyond preventing a second attack, he is bequeathing to his successor the kinds of powers and institutions the next president will need to prevent further attack and successfully prosecute the long war. And indeed, he does leave behind a Department of Homeland Security, reorganized intelligence services with newly developed capacities to share information, and a revised FISA regime that grants broader and modernized wiretapping authority.

In this respect, Bush is much like Truman, who developed the sinews of war for a new era (the Department of Defense, the CIA, the NSA), expanded the powers of the presidency, established a new doctrine for active intervention abroad, and ultimately engaged in a war (Korea) -- also absent an attack on the U.S. -- that proved highly unpopular.

So unpopular that Truman left office disparaged and highly out of favor. History has revised that verdict. I have little doubt that Bush will be the subject of a similar reconsideration.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/vindication_will_come_for_bush.html

[Catwoman]

I'm grateful to finally see a post that reflects more realistically the character and voracity of our president.  Yes, he's dropped the ball on some issues...just as our Democratic-dominated Congress has...however...this president has brought back respectability and honor to the office of the President.  He has kept war off of our lands, ever since we were broadsided by the 9-11 attacks.  Yes, we've lost some people in this effort...but we've lost more people in one DAY of previous wars than we've lost in the ensuing years after 9-11.  This president has not used the Oval Office as his own private whorehouse...much to the contrary...he's married to a woman that would neuter him herself if she ever caught him engaged in that activity.  Don't get me wrong - this President has done plenty that I question.  However, I have never had one moment where I questioned his dedication to this country or his willingness to defend us and our way of life.  As far as all of those who would stand around whining about Big Brother listening in without permission...I'm willing to put up with a little of that in order to prevent any further attacks on our soil.  And before you go admonishing me about how that will just lead to more freedoms being infringed upon...try being a teacher who has to sign a contract every year that has a morality clause in it that states that I can be fired basically for conduct unbecoming an educator...my entire life is under scrutiny by those that I work with and teach for...I've already given up many rights to privacy by agreeing to teach children.  As far as I'm concerned, it's worth it...to maintain the freedoms that I've managed to keep as an American...FREEDOM ISN'T FREE...and I'm willing to pay the price for what freedoms I have now.  It's a small price, in comparison to others in my family, who have laid their entire souls on the altar of Freedom for the rest of America.   

[W. Gray]

Well put.

Especially about the private whorehouse--and you did not mention that no one has accused the current president of sexual assault--and I don't believe any man serving as president prior to Clinton, Democrat or Republican, was either.

When it comes to sex, some folks will rationalize and say "well they all do it," but William Jefferson Clinton was the champion of champions.

Regardless of what people think about Clinton's accomplishments or lack of accomplishments, after we are all dead and gone, his eight years will always be overshadowed and negated by his foolishness, his lying under oath, and most particularly his impeachment.

Before the mid 1990s, what did people think of in terms of accomplishment when the name Andrew Johnson was mentioned? Absolutely nothing, except that he was the only president impeached.

After the mid 1990s, what do people think of in terms of accomplishment when the name Andrew Johnson is mentioned? Absolutely nothing except that he was the first of two presidents ever to be impeached.

Clinton managed to shoot himself in the foot and will be forever known as the second president ever to be impeached.

[frawin]

Catwoman and Waldo, remember though he didn't inhale, I was never sure if that was the cigar or the Marijuana he was talking about.

[Catwoman]

OH JEEZ.

[frawin]

Catwoman, President Bush and Mrs Bush are very Christian people. We lived in Midland Texas when they did and whatever people think of the President and the job he has done, he is a very good family man and a very good christian and Laura is as well. The Bushs gave our kids donation money for everything that came up at their school. When we were packing to move from Midland to Bartlesville we found a note that then George Bush wrote to our oldest son congratulating him on a job well done for something in school and giving a donation for something our son was working on. I had the opportunity to work on a drilling deal with then George Bush,  the deal was with Phillips Petroleum Company and Bush Exploration. The President does know alot about the Oil and Gas Industry. including Drilling and Exploration. One of the highlights of my career was meeting George H.W. Bush, young George's father, it was one of those times when I felt that I had met and shook hands with someone of greatness, he is a very personable and impressive person, and I think Barbara Bush is an all American super lady. I love her wit and the way she talks about her family. I always thought it was a real disgrace that Bil Clinton and all of his immorality defeated George Bush, but I think Bush's mistake and heavy baggage was Dan Quayle.

[Catwoman]

I've always been an admirer of the Bush clan, just simply because they are truly American and a class act.  No one is perfect...but, after the Clintons, the President and his wife were a decided relief.