HistoricalMullet: Hard Questions for Bush

Thirteen months after 9/11 it become clearer what President Bush was willing, and not willing, to do in the Global War on Terror. 

I’ve been holding back on this for several months but I think the time is right now for the hard questions given Congress’s resolution last night.

So far Bush has shown his resolve to fight the war on terrorism in the following manners:

• Playing loose with civil liberties in the name of national security
• Sought to combine dozens of departments into Homeland Security
•  Asked, and received, authorization to break with the 200-year history of this country not to preemptively begin a war
• Already has, and is planning, to put soldiers in harms way in over six countries and at least one potential major military conflict

The debate about whether that’s right or wrong completely aside there is one thing he has not done that I now expect to see to improve this nation’s security.

Reform the CIA/FBI.

Clearly these two organizations have the strongest mandates to be involved on the War on Terror. Clearly they had pieces of the puzzle that, if they operated more closely together and in a more effective fashion, might have been able to prevent 9/11. Clearly the organizations do not play nice with each other nor are too effective in terms of technical infrastructure, leadership, or bureaucracy in playing well with each other in protecting the American people. If Bush wants to impress me as a voter that he is resolved with truly improving the national security of this country he won’t do it solely by dropping bombs on Iraq, but instead taking on the CIA and FBI and making them accountable to the roles they are intended to fill. He talks about leadership, and he has shown leadership on doing all of the above four items that require sacrifice and hardship on the American people and our soldiers overseas. It’s time to require the same sacrifice and hardship to the sacred cow which is the CIA/FBI. Just my thoughts.