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[Adventurer]

Giuliani: No domestic terror attacks under Bush

AP � Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani reacts as he announces he won't run for New York state governor �

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer Will Lester, Associated Press Writer � Fri Jan 8, 11:10 pm ET

WASHINGTON � Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani set off a tempest about terrorism Friday with his claim that this nation "had no domestic attacks" under President George W. Bush.

Giuliani somehow neglected to mention the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as he was contrasting President Barack Obama's handling of terrorism with that of Bush in light of the failed Christmas Day attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound flight. The Sept. 11 attacks toppled New York's World Trade Center, killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania and earned Giuliani accolades as "America's mayor."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100109/ap_on_en_tv/us_terrorism_giuliani

[Adventurer]

I don't really like either the democrats or republicans much when it comes to foreign policy. However, the GOP keeps pointing fingers at the democrats when it was George Bush senior who didn't warn Saddam Hussein that America would not tolerate an invasion of Kuwait. Saddam Hussein brought up his dispute with Kuwait to the American ambassador.
Then, Iraq invades, and the US has an excuse to station troops in Saudi Arabia, which is revered by many Muslims and bases in some countries can, as we all know, generate hostility. The US wouldn't have done all that, probably, if the Soviets were still around. They weren't.

Then, most of the fighting in Afghan War against the Soviets was done under GOP leadership, though commenced by Carter. After the war, Afghanistan was abandoned.

One could argue that Americans were imperiled by foreign policy mistakes in regards to Afghanistan, Saddam Hussein, and how the Arab-Israeli issue was mishandled by Bush's son, W. I will say that Bush senior did a good job in terms of getting a peace process going, but he did help generate a terrorism problem. The tried the same types of tactics they used in Central America. The difference was Central Americans didn't come after America in response, but some Muslims did.

Desert Storm could have been avoided if Saddam felt he wouldn't go away with invading Kuwait in the first place. In the past, during the Iraq-Iran War, Kuwait tankers carried American flags. That meant they were under American protection. Ambassador Gillespie should have clearly said Kuwait was under America's protection. She didn't for some reason.

[Ya-ta Boy]

You can stick a fork in Giuliani. His presidential ambitions died the moment he got labeled 'a noun, a verb and 9/11'. Most people are offended when someone makes cynical use of tragedies for their own gain.

[Fox]

What's with the sudden Republican lie campaign about "No terrorist attacks during Bush's presidency," anyway? Several people now have made this totally ludicrious claim. Even giving them the best possible interpretation of, "No attacks after 9/11," it's still a verifiable lie, and to be frank, I don't think a terrorist attack on the scale of 9/11 should simply be shrugged off as not counting.

Honestly I'd far prefer it if we simply stopped blaming Presidents for the actions of terrorists, and stopped obsessing over terrorism in general. Terrorism wins when we let it scare us into hurting ourselves, and that's exactly what's happening. I know the Republicans think they have a vested political interest in keeping terrorism alive as an issue, but it's hurting the nation.

[Ya-ta Boy]

What other issue do they really have?

The Commies betrayed them by imploding. Enough of the public outgrew racism so race-baiting doesn't have the umph it used to. They're still too embarrassed by their 30-year record on the deficit to try that angle. The War on Christmas, the gay and abortion are low on people's list of issues when their jobs are on the line. What's left?

Terrorism was supposed to be the best issue since Khrushev, since Islam isn't going to disappear anytime soon. Unending war, unending fear. That's what all the noise about trying people in military courts is about. That's what this crap about no terrorist strikes during Bush's term is about. Terrorism must be the center of foreign policy.

Of course it's hurting the country. It's exactly what Osama wants. Fear, panic, in-fighting, back-biting, back-stabbing. You don't even have to have a successful strike; you just need the price of an airline ticket in order to push the US into spending even more billions to protect itself while having a nervous breakdown.

There's a famous story from the Cold War. The US spent billions developing some new breakthrough radar system. The Soviets figured out that they only had to go down to any local grocery store, buy a few rolls of aluminum foil and cut it up into 1" squares and toss it out airplane windows to defeat the system. This fight isn't about high tech security systems: We have to fight smart and party in-fighting for perceived political advantage isn't doing it.

[Fox]

[Adventurer]