He did the equivalent of what the gun control lobby thinks will make them safe. Massive knee-jerk over-reaction. Invading countries that had little, if anything, to do with it. Bombing anything that looks remotely terrorist. Oh, and just forget about the economy.

But one thing I know about extremists and terrorists is this. They do not think the same way we do. They were already willing to sacrifice themselves for their cause, so our bombings would never have deterred them. It has only made them more cautious. And yes, we may have killed a whole lot of them, but we have also bombed as many innocents as terrorists, and in so doing, created more future terrorists, while strengthening the resolve of those who have survived.

Bush has never understood the sociological aspects of how terrorist communities work. Nor that of how countries that have lived in centuries in civil unrest operate. They cannot be “pacified” externally, and most certainly not by force. And many of his actions were clearly motivated by things other than the safety of the country.

People might be blindly patriotic, but they aren’t all blind. Regardless of what you think, there are many highly patriotic Americans who do understand that he made mistakes, lots of them, and more importantly, why he made them.

Even if he was doing what he thought needed to be done, the old adage still holds true. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. And frankly, Bush’s intentions weren’t all that pure to begin with. History will see his actions for what they were.

Kthnxbai.