Thanks, But No Thanks

Reference Jim Vokes's letter Jan. 22, "Thank You President Bush." That letter is wrong in so many ways. It's possible 9-11 could have been avoided if Bush had taken action on an Aug. 8, 2001 memo advising of an imminent terrorist attack. Unfortunately Bush's Crawford vacation took precedence over protecting our nation and saving 3,000 lives.
Bush and Cheney were hell bent on starting a war with Saddam. Both knew he had no weapons of mass destruction from 2003 intelligence reports. They rushed into war based on lies, miscalculations and faulty assumptions.
Bush's stubbornness and uncompromising attitude precluded him from forming an adequate international coalition of forces. Our troops were sent into combat without adequate body and vehicle armor. These "liberators" suffered over 4,000 deaths and 30,000 wounded and maimed casualties. Jim, I agree Bush "changed the face of the Middle East forever," but unfortunately the whole region is in a state of crisis (i.e. Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Gaza, Pakistan etc.)
Bush's charge and spend policies and tax breaks for the wealthy have saddled us with a $10.6 trillion deficit. Bush was presiding over the greatest economic downturn since 1929. Unemployment is 8 percent. We have record mortgage foreclosures and credit card bankruptcies.
Don't blame the Democrats for these disasters during the past two years. We didn't have enough votes to override a Bush veto and besides, these have been festering problems during the six years when Bush had a Republican Congress and did nothing to correct them.
Editorial constraints preclude elaborating further, so here are headline summaries: Katrina; 47 million Americans without health insurance. No stem cell research; mission accomplished banner on aircraft carrier, ignoring Geneva conventions; Bush said Osama bin Laden would be brought back dead or alive; Bush's approval ratings stands at 27 percent, thus about 50 percent of Republicans disapprove of his performance.
Jim, welcome back and I appreciate your prayers and wishes for President Obama. I am confident that he and the Democratic Party will come through for you.
Ron Geouque
Avon Park