Bush jeopardizes national security for political gain

From dKosopedia

Category: Bush rants

The Republican Party likes to think of itself as the party that is strong on issues of national security, and has succeeded in making this the perception of much of the American public. However, there are countless examples of actions by the Bush adminstration which unnecessarily put troops at physical risk or jeopardized national security interests for short term political benefit to themselves.

• In order to punish Joe Wilson for his allegations that the administration knowingly used false information about Iraq's nuclear ambitions in order the justify the Invasion of Iraq, White House officials expose Wilson's wife Valerie Plame as an undercover CIA operative. This ends Plame's career, exposes her colleagues, puts countless contacts she has made over the years at risk, and is a setback to the cause of WMD non-proliferation, her field of expertise.

• Facing criticism that political motives were behing the raising of the terror-alert level in the immediate aftermath of 2004 Democratic National Convention, administration officials reveal that intelligence regarding specific threats had been obtained from Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, an Al Qaeda operative captured in Pakistan. Until his identity was made public, Khan had turned against his former colleagues and was acting as an agent for Pakistani, British and American investigators against the Al Qaeda network. Among the contacts Khan had been maintaining and which were lost due to the administrations handling of the matter were members of the terrorist cell which launched the July 7 London bombings.

• Military commanders had wanted to launch a massive invasion on Fallujah, the Iraqi city that had attracted a large number of insurgents and was resisting American occupation. Bush administration officials decided to wait until after the November Presidential Election before launching the assault. Whether or not the invasion was the right thing to do, waiting to do so until after the election allowed the insurgency to become more entrenched, resulting in a more dangerous and bloody military action.