The Year of Moving Forward

The Year of Moving Forward
At our 4 person wedding reception in DC

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Tell the Whole Story, Dale

I posed the question “Who will be next?” to leave in the Bush administration and now we know: Tony Blair, announcing today that he is stepping down as Prime Minister. I have to admit, I’m not sad to see Bush’s lap dog go.

And in Bessemer, we have someone ready to make a run at replacing Tony Snow as President Bush’s press secretary if such an opportunity arises. Dale Jones, the editor of The Western Star, has once again misrepresented the truth regarding the war in Iraq as to leave no doubt that he could handle the job. Remember early this year he made the assertion that every person who has served would “return to Iraq in a second” while we all know of such veterans who have denounced the war and are working to get us out of Iraq.

This week, in his weekly editorial titled “Our Fight is against Al-Qaeda, not Iraq” Jones once again shows his willingness to twist the truth to fit his message, much as the White House does through its press secretary. He says:

Al-Qaeda was formed in or around 1988, twelve years before Bush went into office.

Ollie North testified before (the) Senate. He told Senator Al Gore that Osama bin Laden, the force behind Al-Qaeda, was the one man that he was most afraid of.

We’ve had opportunities before Bush to make a difference, but our “leaders” seemed too busy dealing with interns in the oval office.

Let’s remember, that twelve years before Bush went into office, when Jones says Al-Qaeda was formed (1988), Ronald Reagan was president (1981 – 1989) and during the next four years while Al-Qaeda was gaining strength, daddy Bush was president. And let’s not forget where Osama bin Laden got his inspiration.


When the marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, were destroyed by a suicide bomber in 1983, killing 241 American servicemen, Reagan was president, and did he retaliate? No. After initially pledging to keep a military force in Lebanon, he quickly changed his plans and withdrew. We did nothing to retaliate. Cutting and running, we were unable to get out of there fast enough. The success of that attack led to a sharp increase in suicide bombings across the world, and such bombings were later adopted by Al-Qaeda as an often used tactic. Bin Laden himself has indicated that the bombing in Beirut and the U. S. unwillingness to respond was inspiration for him.

So don’t blame the Clinton administration for the rise of Al-Qaeda. Jones is right, we have had opportunities before Bush to make a difference, in fact, Al-Qaeda might never have come into existence if Reagan had stood up to the terrorists in 1983. Tell the whole story, Dale.

And some roses.




The fence surrounding the back of our property is covered in vines and shadowed by trees, but as we have begun to clear it off, surprises have been revealed. These roses are two of several that remain, that the former owner must have had covering the fence decades ago. If we can get more sunlight onto the fence area by trimming some scrubby trees back, I’m hoping the roses will flourish once again.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

But, but, but...Joe, you know everything is Clinton's fault. We can't let pesky facts get in the way of Clinton-blaming. :)

Anonymous said...

Its the old "Say-it-enough-times-and-it-becomes-true-no-matter-how-much-evidence-to-the-contrary strategy"... Bin Laden is Clinton's fault. Do they really believe that?

Christine McIntosh said...

It'll be interesting to see how Brown shapes up as a non-poodle for GWB. Some of us in the Labour party have been hoping for years for Blair's retirement - simply because he'd got into bed with Bush and wouldn't get out.

Anonymous said...

Chris...so you don't think Brown will crawl right in? I don't know much about him, was wondering what someone closer would think.

Christine McIntosh said...

At the moment he's palyed his cards quite close to his chest. He's extremely able, and very Scottish (said in an approving voice!) with much of the lack of showmanship that that implies. Bill Clinton was on the news tonight endorsing him and expressing the opinion that people would get used to him. I hope he stays out of GW's bed!