Quote Originally Posted by JSE
Actually, these talking points are largely based on opinion and not actual facts. There are some facts within but the analysis of what these points mean is opinion. For example,

"1. "Bush is the first president in US history to order a US attack AND military occupation of a sovereign nation, and did so against the will of the United Nations and the vast majority of the international community."

Well yes, Bush is the 1st president to do this. Is that a good or bad thing? Did he do so against the will of the UN? Maybe, but who cares. Since when does the UN dictate how the US acts? I also like the statement "did so against the will of.......the vast majority of the international community." The "VAST" majority? France, Germany and Russia? They are considered the vast majority? What about the 30 plus other nations that supported us and are part of the coalition?
Yes, he did so againist the will of the UN. And not just the voting members, but non voting members as well. We should care, look at the amount of money leaving home, and going to Iraq. We didn't have to shoulder this much financial responsibility in the first gulf war. It is now squarely on our backs, and part reason the deficit is so high. Had you have been paying close attention, you would have found that we had absolutely NO support in the UN for this kinda of move. Those thirty nations that are part of the coalition, how many total troops did they contribute. Let's see, Poland contributed soldiers to fight, England did also, Spain, but now they are pulled out, and Australia. These are the only countries that contributed fighting soldiers. The rest of the 26 sent support staff only. In the first gulf war, there were approximately 20 countries that contributed FIGHTING units, not support staff. IMO, what we have now is not a coalition. Especially since we have had to promise them something to get them to partcipate.


and,

2. "Bush recklessly put U.S. soldiers in harms way by invading Iraq in search of weapons of mass destruction which still have not been found." In doing so, he has compromised the war on terrorism by directing 200 billion dollars for an overt combat operation as opposed to a covert operation. "

Recklessly? That's simply an opinion. Compromised the war on terrorism? Again, opinion.
Well considering we never found WMD, and we had people on the ground actively searching, and G.W didn't have the patience to wait until they were completed, an arguement can be made that we rushed to war. Had Hans Blix had the oportunity to complete his search, he could have concluded that no WMD can be found, eleminated the chance that troops would be deployed, and 1,000+ would still be alive, and 5,000+ would not be maimed or injured. We would also have 200 billion dollars more in our coffers, and countless Iraqi people still alive. The arguement that he(Hussein) would have given WMD to terrorist rings hollow when you think about the fact that Iraq didn't have any.
The arguement that he(Hussein) would have been a problem down the road also rings hollow since we have no way of knowing that at all(intelligence cannot predict the future)
It seems to me based on recent history, he(Hussein) was VERY preoccupied with Iran to pay us much attention(they were kicking his butt). As far as the compromise on terror, I think the world was with us on this, now I think based on the actions of Bush, we are pretty much in this alone. Especially in the way we are carrying this out.

Is the world better off with Hussein? Definately. But it would be better off without the leaders of North Korea, and Iran. Since we are in the business of deciding what is good for the world, let's just go in and take them out too, and any other that we deemed unsuitable for the world.

2. "Bush entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down."

Really? Actually, he entered office after the downslide had already begun and has now been turned around due to W.
Nobody in their right mind believes that a President controls the economy. That is bigger than even the office of the President. Our economy is cyclical, and has nothing to do with the President. However this President does have a direct effect in how much we spend, and we have spent our way from a surplus, to a deficit, the largest deficit in the history of this country. He has yet to veto a single spending bill(great fiscal responsibility). During his watch, the desparity between the wealthy and the poor has grown wider. More people lost their health insurance during his watch than any other President, and he didn't even talk about it until somebody else did This country is divided in a way unheard of in it's history, and his Presidency is directly responsible for that. We are easily the most hated country, and he the most hated President in the world because of his foreign policy. I don't know about you, but I have travelled to over 18 countries in the last 20 months. I have been spit on, cussed out, not served at deli's, chased out of various places, and had quite a few doors slammed in my face because I am American. Before this Presidency this NEVER happened to me. In those 20 months I have not heard one good thing about this President from anyone in these foreign countries including England, Italy Australia, or Spain. His tax cuts that he so proudly speaks of, I am sure the rich love him for it, but $300 he gave to middle class Americans was quickly eaten up by high gas prices, and increased health insurance costs. Some tax break huh. Those tax cut's have done a bit to increase the national debt, and have not done very much to get unemployed Americans back to work. States that had a dearth of manufacturing jobs, ask them how they benefitted from his tax cut to the wealthy.

Anyway, you get the picture. JOEBIALEK's post in spin. Nothing more.

JSE
Its either spin, or Bush supporters denial. Whichever, the results speak for themselves. Am I a Kerry supporter, not hardly. But IMO he is the lesser of two evils. To say that he(Bush) has kept us safe, and there have been no further attacks on this country is naive. These terrorist are smart enough not to try the same thing twice no matter who is President. It is easier to hit other countries that support us, and erode that support away(Spain, Philippines)