The Seven Year Miracle

From Abe Greenwald’s must-read web-only essay yesterday at COMMENTARY — “Seven Years After:”

Making it through the past seven years without a terrorist attack in the
United States constitutes a miracle even if Democrats pretend it does not.  Such a national security achievement is the result of smart initiatives and the judicious employment of military force, even if President Bush’s critics treat it as sheer good luck.  That such luck has selectively eluded Great Britain, Spain, Russia, China, Indonesia, and Turkey (to name but a few) during the same period of time is habitually ignored by those making the case against “the worst president in U.S. history.” . . .

After September 11, it became clear that the forces of clerical barbarism in the Muslim world had to be destroyed to the best of our ability.  Draining the swamp of theocrats would give Muslims a chance to improve their lot in this life and decrease the sick desire to atomize themselves into the next.  The troops deployed in Iraq have not only succeeded in deposing Saddam’s Ba’athist regime, but also in defeating jihadists whose ideology poses a singular threat to American existence. . . .

Instead of excoriating our president for his blunders and setbacks, we should have been rallying, as a nation, recalling in our history the many times we triumphed in the face of determined and evil adversaries.  We’re told we’ve forgotten about the principles of our Constitution, but as Americans sit around and freely describe our elected leaders as fascists and our soldiers as indiscriminate killers, it’s clear we’ve forgotten what it takes to keep those principles alive.

Seven years ago, we all went out and bought American flags and covered everything in red, white, and blue, knowing perfectly well we were heading into years of war.  Today, our Democratic nominee for president is at pains to admit to an American victory.  Something has indeed been wasted in seven years.  But luckily, much as been saved.  This is George W. Bush’s last September 11 in the White House, and I’d like to take the opportunity to say, “Thank you, Mr. President.”