Whither Axis of Evil

On January 29,2002 George Bush set us on a course to rid world of terrorism:

"States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic."

Years from now I believe that historians will look at that speech as the most important of Bush Presidency.

Bush was clear that the cost would be high and that the efforts would continue beyond his time in office.

My question now is was the cost worth it?

 

A bigger security threat is if China and other countries stop buying our debt.

 

China won't because we buy its goods.

 

While a nuclear bomb would be bad news, none of those mentioned by Bush had advanced delivery systems that would systematically alter our country. The Brics (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are on pace to cause a massive global economic realignment that could make the post-WWII boom years in the US look like little more than a Black Friday sale at Best Buy.

 

Depends if you blame the "terrorists" -- and our pursuit of them -- for the economic funk we've endured for the past three years.

I say the housing bubble, and the faulty investment/lending practices that helped pump it up, would have ruined the economy regardless of Sept. 11.

The invasion of Iraq was a mistake; I think we can all admit that. For all the death and destruction -- of Americans, Iraqis and others -- we didn't find any WMDs, or make the Middle East much more friendly to our interests.

But to give Bush (and his successor!) their due, we have done a good job of rubbing out the al-Qaida leadership that plotted the attacks on America.