Very few Americans showed the same faithfulness to President Bush, including members of his own party. Republicans who favored non-interventionism to nation building abandoned Bush, and Democratic senators like John Kerry, John Edwards and Hillary Clinton who voted for the war turned against it before the 2004 elections so they would have the ammunition they needed to criticize their incumbent opponent.
America quickly forgot about how President Bush charismatically lifted our spirits during some of the darkest moments of our nation’s history when the Twin Towers collapsed. After all, even Senator Kerry admitted Bush’s handling of the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks was “terrific,” during the 2004 presidential debates.
But after President Bush successfully secured America in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, he was rewarded with accusations of committing human rights violations and war crimes – an incredible irony since his policies were responsible for liberating tens of millions of people in Afghanistan and Iraq. Some Americans accused Bush of lying and starting a war under false pretenses simply because our troops never found actual weapons of mass destruction.
Despite what Michael Moore implied in his film "Fahrenheit 9/11," Congress did not base their 2002 authorization for the Iraq War solely on the premise that Saddam Hussein either had or was trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Their legislation reads very clearly that America’s purpose in sending troops back to Iraq was to enforce U.N. resolutions, some of which were violated in the 1990’s and probably should have been enforced by President Clinton. Whether actual weapons were found or not, the war in Iraq was legally and morally justifiable, and necessary.
Yeah, check out our declaration of war. It will take you more time to read if you really believe we only went to war over WMD. Besides, I guarantee Saddam--or one of his psychopath sons--would have them by now if we didn't destroy his regime.
The falling away of one-time war supporters is really what angers me. It was the same thing we are witnessing now as people who once claimed to support the "good war" in Afghanistan drift away into war opposition.
For me, supporting the war in 2002 only to turn away after 2004 is a character flaw and betrayal. It never occurred to me that I should abandon support for victory in Iraq. That would be a betrayal both of the troops who died and risked their lives to win for us, but a betrayal of the president who shrugged off attacks on his character to do the right thing and win.
There should never be an expiration date on a declaration of war. So as President Obama fights the war in Afghanistan, just as Bush had my loyal support, he can count on my loyalty on this issue (even as I oppose much of his domestic agenda and worry over his foreign policy in other areas). I may criticize details, as I did with Bush, but I'll have the president's back as long as I believe he wants to win the war (whether judged "good" or "bad" by our Left) in Afghanistan.
