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The 9/11 commission report is a devastating and irrefutable record of Bush's passivity on terrorism, beginning with his first act: the demotion of Clarke. The report documents that the administration "was not ready to confront Islamabad" on Pakistan's support for the Taliban or to "engage actively against al Qaeda" and that it "did not develop new diplomatic initiatives on al Qaeda with the Saudi government." Bush told the commission that the Aug. 6, 2001, President's Daily Brief, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.," was "historical in nature," though it contained current information. And, the report said: "In sum, the domestic agencies never mobilized in response to the threat. They did not have direction, and did not have a plan to institute." The administration's neoconservatives, such as Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, are depicted as dismissive -- Wolfowitz opposed retaliation for al-Qaida's attack on the USS Cole as "stale" -- and obsessed with Iraq as the source of all terrorism.
Bush's campaign must try to blur memory of his history. When Kerry seized upon the commission's recommendations, Bush reacted a week later by endorsing a new national intelligence chief. But he would give this new post no control over budget, no White House office, no power over personnel and no authority over intelligence operations. Once again, he appeared to be acting only on political motives.
In the meantime, various bills for homeland security languish before Congress, neglected by Bush. His paltry $46 million proposal for port security, for example, is more than $1 billion short of what the U.S. Coast Guard says is required. On port security, 10 Democratic amendments have already been defeated while Bush has slept. He prefers that the money be appropriated for more tax cuts skewed to the upper bracket.
Bush is haunted not only by the ghosts of his own past but by the ghosts of other presidents past. While he attempts to redeem his father's political fall by avoiding his mistakes, his effort at reversal is creating a similar estrangement from voters. The elder Bush won his war against Iraq and withdrew without toppling Saddam; his ratings were then at their peak. But his obliviousness to economic circumstances undermined the heroic image. Lyndon Johnson had an ambitious domestic agenda backed by a landslide electoral mandate. But he squandered it in the Vietnam quagmire, and his political credibility undermined his party's for a generation. Now, Bush's faltering credibility is tearing at trust in U.S. national security. Perversely, his campaign must exploit the fears, real or not, that his failures have helped engender. For him, the campaign is not a war of choice, but of necessity.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2004/08/04/terror_alerts/index.html
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