by Lenna Gonya

Created on: February 03, 2010   Last Updated: February 04, 2010

Presidents and all other leaders whether they are local or federal, political or social, are only judged by the results of their term of office, and by who is judging them.

The Bush-Cheney administration was hailed by everyone in their response to 911. Keeping in mind that not only hadn’t the United States experienced anything like 911 before, and there was no contingency plan for such an event, everyone agreed that the administration did the best they could to pull the country together and stave off further attacks.

They did, in fact, stave off further attacks. How many we will never know, because they were vigilant in their attempts to maintain national security. They did not sacrifice the good of the country in order to defend themselves from public scrutiny and criticism.

The idea that wire taps specifically placed on those with known ties to terrorist cells, was not appalling in the early days after 911, when everyone’s goal was protection. Liberals and Conservatives alike were in agreement to any proposal that would aid in further attacks.

It was not until the dust settled, the air cooled, and everyone went back into their safe mode, that people began to find reasons to criticize the policies that worked. Reasoning that these were invasion of privacy issues, some found a new protest format, ignoring the fact that these were the same policies that had worked.

If these same people had experienced a personal attack, been involved in 911, or had a loved one killed, their outlook on the methods used would have been altered.

In fact, if these methods had not been implemented, protests against the Bush administration would have begun, insisting that they had not done enough. Ask the victims and their families, and their take on the security issue would be much different.

Security measures, used to stave off enemy attacks do not involve or implicate those who are not guilty. They are drastic measures yes, but not in relation to the unprecedented murder of thousands of people.

Intelligence has a long history in all countries. It is necessary unfortunately, in a world that neither trusts or likes it’s neighbors. The old saying that “drastic times calls for drastic measures” is true, and has been used by every President since the birth of the country.

If those who criticize the Bush administration want something to worry about, they should begin to concern themselves with the ongoing big government control of the country today. In the long run, this policy leaves us more open to attacks, and gradually depletes the true privacy and sovereignty of the citizens.

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