Bush's war strategy has paid big dividends

The Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News

Staying on offense

IN THE PRESIDENTIAL campaign, the foreign policy focus has centered almost entirely on Iraq. John Kerry and the Big Media have done a masterful job framing the debate around the day-to-day operations in Baghdad, Fallujah and other trouble spots. Nearly forgotten have been the big successes of the past three years.

President George W. Bush’s critics begrudgingly credit him with deposing the Taliban, but are quick to note that Osama bin Laden remains at large and we have serious problems in Iraq. It is important to step back and look at the big picture.

The Taliban fell because Bush assembled a coalition that included Pakistan, which had been an enabler of the Taliban, a leaker of nuclear secrets, and a hideout for al-Qaida. Pakistan is now a hugely important American ally whose police and military are capturing and killing our enemies.

The President is responsible for disarming Libya, a significant sponsor of terrorism, by threatening to do to Tripoli what we did to Kabul.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war, Bush did build an international coalition to destroy the Hussein regime. Today, a murderous, torturing despot who harbored and funded terrorists and attacked American allies is now in jail, and the Iraqi people are on the path to democracy.

Al-Qaida is disrupted and on the run. Most of Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenants are no longer capable of killing Americans because they are either in prison or in the ground.

Because of American pressure, Saudi Arabia is finally tracking and killing al-Qaida members and other terrorists. The current situation in Iraq is unsatisfactory, and the Bush administration made mistakes there. But on the whole, the War on Terror has succeeded in eliminating some threats to this country and reducing others. The big picture shows that President Bush’s strategy of staying on the offensive is paying off. It would be a major mistake to halt our momentum by electing a President who is more comfortable playing defense.