There are many key ingredients to winning a war, be it a war on terror or a war on totalitarianism. Lucky for us, the United States posses them all, at least for now. There is one element that is in danger of being lost, and so creates the danger of losing the war entirely. What we are in danger of losing is our unity, and if the Democrats succeed, it will be gone in no time at all.
On May 15, news broke that could not be ignored. It turns out that President Bush received an intelligence report on August 16 that included a possible threat of terrorists hijacking airplanes within the United States. The liberal media was quick to create headlines that read similar to that of the New York Times — Bush Knew. Despite the undisputed fact that with the limited information given to the president, there was little he could do.
This is yet another attempt to try and tarnish the Bush Administration and glorify the Left. But it has not worked so far. The image that was falsely created was one of Bush knowing that terrorists would use passenger airplanes as missiles to fly into the World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon. That claim just isn't true, and the public knows it.
On May 21, almost a week after it was reported that the White House had some kind of intelligence hinting at a terrorist airplane hijacking, Bush maintained a 71 percent approval rating, according to a CBS News poll. The same poll revealed that 83 percent of the public believe that Bush is currently devoting enough attention to the war on terror.
Memo to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle: The public doesn't buy it.
Daschle, and the rest of the Democrats, wants you to believe that Bush has it out for the people of the United States. That all he cares about is himself and his party. And that Bush will cover up anything to try and protect his image. However, those allegations just won't stick; President Bush doesn't play the game like previous administrations have.
Daschle and other Democrats, including John McCain, are calling for an investigation into what the White House knew and how soon they knew it. This is going to turn up two answers: First, the problem goes back to the Carter Administration. Second, it doesn't matter.
If Congress really wants to take up another lengthy investigation, perhaps it should look back to the Clinton era. Back to a time when the Sudanese government said to Clinton, "Hey, we got this guy named Osama in prison here, and we're pretty sure he was responsible for the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole. Do you want him?"
Since the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole killed 17 military personnel, one would assume Clinton to respond to such a question with a resounding, "Yes!" Unfortunately, Clinton passed on the offer, and so let the terrorist that would go on to kill 3,000 more U.S. citizens go free. If Congress wants to investigate a president who knowingly put the U.S. public in harm's way, investigate that.
Even if Congressional Democrats get their way in having a large investigative probe search into what information the White House had, what does it mean? That our intelligence gathering tactics are inept? I think we already know that. That the CIA and FBI need to be more cooperative? We also already know that. What more could possibly be gained by further politicizing this issue? Nothing, except a loss of unity.
In a speech to the National Press Club on May 22, Daschle said with regards to its planned actions concerning White House knowledge, "We will speak out because our first responsibility is to the security of this country." The question then must be asked, what does further speaking out, or investigation, do for national security?
A loss of unity is what has the power to take the legs out from underneath this country and its war on terror. When the public begins to second-guess its president, it becomes very hard to successfully engage in war efforts. Unity is what will win this war for the United States, fragmentation is what will lose it.
Rob Jones is a political science junior. He can be reached at robert.d.jones@asu.edu.
