America Made the Right Choice
By Kevin Mooney, 11.04.04

President Bush’s aggressive policy of pre-emption has moved the war against terrorism out of New York City and into Afghanistan and Iraq.

The nation is more secure today than it was three years ago because Bush has been on the offensive while the terrorists are retreating. Unlike John Kerry, this president understands the U.S. cannot afford to wait until the hour of maximum danger before taking action.

When organizations such as Al-Qaeda seek to acquire chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, it is necessary to confront terrorists overseas. This is a necessity so the American people do not face the ultimate nightmare at home.

The same terrorists who directed attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001 would not hesitate to incinerate U.S. cities with weapons of mass destruction once they are acquired.

It is important to remember Al-Qaeda operatives did not intend for Sept. 11 to be the last attack. They had designs on multiple targets, including the White House. Millions could have been killed if Al-Qaeda had its finger on the right weapons. The question in this election was, should we wait until they do?

Bush has made the answer clear.

The Democrats nominated a reckless career politician from Massachusetts, who is unwilling to apply American power in absence of international approval. Kerry would allow the United Nations and some European nations to exercise a veto over American foreign policy.

The sad reality is Kerry would not act until after America was attacked. This pre-Sept. 11 mentality is ill-suited for the challenges of our time.

President Bush had it right in his 2003 State of the Union address when he said, “the U.S. does not need a permission slip to defend itself.” The president was also right to build “a coalition of willing” instead of relying on the United Nations.

The on-going “oil for food” scandal demonstrates how corrupt and decadent the U.N. has become in recent years. It has no moral authority.

In today’s world, it is more important to be respected than liked.

Bush is getting more cooperation from the most unlikely sources than was thought possible in the halcyon days of multilateralism in the 1990s. Libya, a long-time state sponsor of terrorism, has adhered to U.S. demands by disarming. In addition, government authorities in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia are aggressively pursuing terrorists within their borders.

Kerry talks about building a broad international partnership, but in the same breath denigrates the loyal allies who are absorbing casualties. He also voted against Operation Desert Storm in 1990 at a time when even Syria supported taking action against Saddam Hussein. Kerry’s voting record over the past 20 years has made the world more inviting for terrorism.

When the World Trade Center was attacked in 1993, Kerry responded by voting to cut $6 billion from the nation’s intelligence budget, according to the Congressional Record (see amendment to H.R. 3759 www.gpoaccess.gov).

In subsequent years the Massachusetts liberal continued his assault on vital national security initiatives. In 1995, he proposed an additional across the board cut of $1.5 billion out of the U.S. intelligence budget.

Congressional records also show Sen. Kerry voted against the B-1 bomber, the B-2 Stealth fighter and the Apache helicopter. All of these weapons have been successfully deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, no thanks to Sen. Kerry. It is evident the Democratic candidate’s campaign rhetoric does not square with his actual voting record, which is beyond awful.

In a recent campaign stop in Burlington Country, N.J. President Bush succinctly and effectively outlined the flaws in his opponent’s worldview.

“This kind of September the 10th attitude is no way to protect our country,” the president said. “The war on terror is a real war, with deadly enemies, not simply a police operation.”

In an era of weapons of mass destruction, waiting for threats to arrive at our doorsteps is to invite disaster. Tyrants and terrorists will not give us polite notice before they attack out country. As long as I’m commander-in-chief, I will confront dangers abroad so we do not face them here at home.”

We tried it Kerry’s way in the 1990s; we got Sept. 11.

You made the right choice America.