Short Memories

I keep saying it, but I’ll say it again. I am non-partisan when it comes to US politics. I, like most people in the world, acknowledge that I am affected by what happens in US politics, and for that reason only I remain an interested party.
Mr. George W Bush’s time has come; and as historians struggle to write the pages that will define his legacy I am overwhelmed by the 20/20 hindsight and short memories being brought to bear on the task by his critics. It is true there is much he probably regrets and might do differently, including using faulty intelligence that ultimately led to war in Iraq, the over-reliance on Cheney and Rumsfeld at the expense of true (military) experts in executing that war and the mishandling Hurricane Katrina at the expense of New Orleans HOWEVER (capitals deliberate)…lets not forget what I personally consider to be the greatest legacy of Bush’s two terms. He and his Administration have prevented another major attack on the USA homeland – and there have been attempts by terrorists to do so. This was the “one big thing he had to do after 9/11” – and much of what has become more recently unpopular, and the focus of condemnation from critics stems from the short memories of those critics- who have forgotten what Bush had to deal with in those terrifying days immediately after 9/11 – and importantly how little he had available to work with – in terms of knowledge and resources. Sure there have been failures, and some of them might have been termed colossal failures in the political atmosphere that prevailed pre 9/11. But his undeniable success at achieving what every American demanded of him above all else at the end of 2001, is that he has kept this country from experiencing a repeat attack. President-elect Obama has big shoes to fill in this regard; and I believe George W Bush’s legacy, like that of Harry Truman, will be subjected to positive re-evaluation in the long term.