America the Vulnerable ; Kerry Put U.S. In Harm's Way

Summary

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The choices facing President Bush in 2001 were between a crumbling security situation with respect to terrorism, missile threats and the proliferation of nuclear weapons on the one hand, and taking the initiative to build a stronger and safer America on the other. How easily we forget, but the decade of the 1990s witnessed terrorist attacks of increasing deadliness. Nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles were being secretly sought by Iran and North Korea. But even as these threats gathered, the Clinton administration told Congress in 2000 that establishing a counterterrorism strategy was "silly."

By contrast, President Bush stopped "swatting at flies" and put together an extraordinary allied coalition to liberate Afghanistan and Iraq and drain two critical terrorist "swamps." He established a Proliferation Security Initiative and strengthened programs to secure all dangerous nuclear materials. He has deployed missile defenses to protect America as an insurance policy in case deterrence fails. And he has done so with the unprecedented cooperation of some six dozen nations.

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America the Vulnerable ; Kerry Put U.S. In Harm's Way

In response to September 11, we liberated Afghanistan in record time. We killed or captured 85 percent of al Qaeda's operatives, including the key architect of the a...

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