Bush is the better choice

The storms of mudslinging from the Bush and Kerry campaigns have clouded voters' minds, leaving some unclear about which presidential candidate is the better choice for the next four years. The name-calling and accusations cannot obscure the truth. President George W. Bush has proven during his first term in office that he's the best man for the position.

Bush had to face the largest terrorist event on American soil in history: the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. Since then, his counterterrorism measures have been decisive and effective. Since Sept. 11, terrorist camps in Afghanistan have been disbanded; Saddam Hussein, who publicly supported and harbored terrorist organizations, has been removed from office and captured; the Taliban, which had terrorist connections, was put out of power in three months and up to 75 percent of Al Qaeda leaders have been captured. In addition, 142 countries have heeded the U.S.'s urging and have frozen terrorist assets, thus hindering terrorist efforts across the globe.

Bush has improved national security on other fronts as well. The U.S. participated in the Six-Party talks, which were meetings beginning in 2003 between North and South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States concerning the nuclear missile crisis in North Korea. At the talks, all six parties agreed to solve the issue through peaceful means, cutting down on the risk of an attack by North Korea. Also, Saudi Arabia, which is currently an absolute monarchy, is holding elections for municipal councils, a decision partly influenced by the United States. The transition from a dictatorship to democracy can be long and difficult, but Saudi Arabia, which is home to powerful terrorists and terrorist organizations, has taken a huge step in the right direction by finally allowing its people to choose. A democracy in Saudi Arabia increases America's national security by allowing there to be friendlier feelings between the two nations.

Many people have criticized President Bush's decision to invade Iraq. However, even though weapons of mass destruction were not found, that does not mean the war was not justified, and it does not mean the president made a poor decision. Bush made the best decision he could in 2003 concerning the Iraqi war. The problem instead lay with faulty intelligence. American intelligence insisted that there were WMDs in Iraq, as did our allies' intelligence. In fact, Hussein's own generals believed that their leader had chemical weapons that he planned to use against the United States. Even President Clinton, who ordered U.S. troops to bomb the country in 1998, cited WMDs. "[The] mission is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors," Clinton explained on Dec. 16, 1998. It took years for weapons inspectors to be allowed into Iraq, and even then they were not allowed to search as much as they wanted to. If he truly had no weapons, Hussein created the false impression that he in fact was in possession of dangerous WMDs. He fooled the world, not just America. Although some people now criticize Bush's decision to invade Iraq, Bush was doing what was best for the people of America based on the information given at the time. Since then, thanks to Bush, there have been massive reforms in intelligence to make sure such mistakes are never made again.

In the next four years, it is likely the world will go through very dramatic changes. With terrorism on the rise, America needs a president who will take the necessary measures to protect citizens. It needs a president who will work on peace talks with North Korea so that a nuclear crisis will be averted. It needs a president with strong plans for the future. The president that this country needs is the president already in office, the one with the experience necessary to continue the success that is just now beginning to pick up momentum. This November, make the right choice and vote George Bush for president.