Bush's Tragic Legacy: How 9/11 Triggered America's Decline

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,785405,00.html

A Commentary by Gregor Peter Schmitz in Washington

09/09/2011

The events of Sept. 11, 2001 led to a wave of solidarity with the US. But the superpower has lost that goodwill over the course of the wars it subsequently waged. Now America is mainly seen not as the victim of terrorism, but as a perpetrator of violence itself.

The smoke was still rising from the rubble of the World Trade Center when Richard Armitage, at the time the US deputy secretary of state, spoke in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. "History begins today," he said.

In the coming decade, Armitage would turn out to be right -- except the politician could not have foreseen how tragic the history would be following the epochal event.

It is the history of the decline of the USA as a superpower.

Immediately before the attacks, this country was in full bloom -- like Rome at its peak, as TV host Joe Scarborough recalls today.

The Republican President George W. Bush had inherited a fat budget surplus from the Democrat Bill Clinton. In Kosovo, the US, which Madeleine Albright dubbed "the indispensable nation," had just shown the Europeans how it could resolve conflicts, even in their own backyard. Bill Gates and Microsoft were still cool.

[Cosmocat]

1. perhaps the biggest tragedy of 9-11 was this ...

If EVER there was a time when a president had the power to put this country on the course for a sweeping energy program, it was then.

It SHOULD have been the Apollo program of our time, a call to the nation to start weening off of oil, figure out what the next generation of transportation energy would be and work toward building that infrastructure and make it the mission of the country to be THE developer and manufacturer of alternative energy sources.

MPG should have been pushed up to the point where we would be where BO has set us up to be in 2020 NOW. All other ways of conservation relative to oil should have been implemented. A commission set up to competitively develop what the next generation of transportation energy would be as a country, and we should already have a good bit of the infrastructurein place for it. LOTS of government funding should have been made available for R&D for alternative energy and to help start up the manufacturing of it.

I said it then, and it broke my heart know who we had as president - moron, first. And, a son of a family which made its wealth through ... oil ... And, a VP who had been an oil executive ... And the twit who let 9-11 happen a lawyer for oil companies.

What did we get?

He, he, he ... Everyone just go shopping ...

And, of course, Iraq and tax cuts ...

And, everyone on this board being called unamerican for nearly a century.

[NNN0LHI]

2. I knew from the very beginning that people don't steal elections for honorable reasons

But I couldn't get hardly anyone else to even think about that.

I knew we were screwed the day old man Bush's cronies at the Supreme Court awarded Bush the Idiot the election.

First thing I said to myself after that happened was, "Well, we still might be alright if this foking idiot doesn't get us involved in any wars."

Those hopes were quickly dashed.

:(

Don

[malaise]

3. I knew from the very beginning that people don't steal elections for honorable reasons

It's that simple.

[Cosmocat]

5. I still have visceral memory

of that night of the election - when they called it for Gore at first then called it for Bushco.

I knew we were in trouble, and sadly, given 9-11, they did SO MUCH more damage than I thought was possible, and I was pretty worried.

[Bosso 63]

4. I still find it hard to believe how much damage was done

during those eight years.

[NNN0LHI]

6. Pretty amazing isn't it?

I was just happy enough to make it through it alive without any nuclear exchanges.

After the pretzel choking incident the mere thought of this rapture ready psychopath being anywhere near the Nuclear Football sent chills up my spine.

Don

[moobu2]

7. Wow thanks for posting this story

Why cant the American press be like this ....damn.

[BootinUp]

8. He would have been a one termer if not for 9/11. nt