The Bushies are back
There was good reason for Republicans to cry foul over the Obama campaigns advertisement highlighting the presidents killing of Osama bin Laden; the GOP has lost its decades-long edge on national security. According to a Washington Post poll, By a margin of more than 2 to 1, Americans say the presidents handling of terrorism is a major reason to support rather than oppose his bid for reelection.
Republicans lost their popularity on security issues for one reason: George W. Bushs foreign policy was a disaster. And yet, the partys nominee, Mitt Romney, has assembled a foreign-policy team composed almost exclusively of individuals with the same war-always mentality and ideology that served Bush and the United States so poorly. In some cases, the exact same men responsible for Bushs catastrophic national security policies are advising Romney. The former Massachusetts governor could have included some of the pragmatists and realists from the George H.W. Bush administration. Instead, a Romney presidency seems like it would be Bush 43 all over again.
Richard Grenell, who served as United Nations spokesman under Bush, may be gone from the Romney campaign after an uproar over his sexuality, but there are plenty more former Bushies. First off, there are Romneys special advisors. Theres Michael Chertoff, W.s Homeland Security director. Chertoff oversaw DHSs failures during Hurricane Katrina, and amassed unprecedented powers of secrecy. Next up is Eliot Cohen, counselor to the State Department for Bushs last two years and on the Defense Policy Advisory Board for the presidents entire term. Cohen was an adamant supporter of the Iraq War and advised Bush directly on the issue. Or take Cofer Black, the man who infamously said to Bush in September 2011 about al-Qaida that When were through with them they will have flies walking across their eyeballs. Black went on to become chairman of Blackwater, where he resigned after the company illegally bribed Iraqi officials.
Then there are the 13 working groups composed of equally worrisome individuals. The Middle East and North Africa Working Group is co-chaired by Bushs Assistant Secretary of Defense Mary Beth Long, and Meghan OSullivan, Bushs special assistant and deputy national security advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan. The remaining co-chair is Walid Phares, who never worked for Bush but advised Lebanese warlords in the 1980s. Romney has reportedly promised Phares a top job in his administration, despite his virulently anti-Islamic views.
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