Bush's disastrous policies
Reader comment on item: In the Mideast, Bush dared to be different

Submitted by Enid Horowitz (United States), Oct 25, 2004 at 12:28

Yes, it's clear that Bush took radical approaches in his four year term. Instead of waging a strongly focused war on terrorism, he waged two insufficient wars on Afghanistan and Iraq. The war against Saddam Hussein has left his country in tatters. Iraqis are now the target of suicide bombers. Their infrastructure is broken, and they are struggling to exist from day to day because of the dangers of moving about, as well as electricity and food shortages. Is Iraq better today than it was prior to March 2003? No. More importantly, is America better off today than pre-9/11? No. Over 1.000 American boys are dead and no end is in sight.

Bush's domestic policies are disastrous, too. He has brought his right-wing Christian ideology into the White House. He governs by his "gut" and asks WWJD—What Would Jesus Do. As an American Jew, this frightens me. He's made it legal to give government funds to religious organizations that help the poor. While that has some merit, it bears strong oversight to be sure that these churches don't proselytize. As a former fund manager, I know many of them do.

Bush is the only president to move toward restricting our constitutional freedoms with respect to abortion rights and the USAPATRIOT Act. Abortion is another issue based on religion. Isn't it ironic that when JFK ran for president he had to ensure the country that he wouldn't bring religion into the White House, while today, since Bush, presidents seem to do the opposite. Is this good for the non-Christians in our country? No.

Abroad, Bush has alienated most of Western Europe. Not only do they detest us, but by association, they now really detest Israel. The lid is off the latent Jew-hatred. Anti-Semitism has risen dangerously all over Europe, not only because of the large numbers of Arabs living there, but also because of George Bush's unilateral war.

Both John Kerry and John Edwards have pledged to support Israel if elected, and I believe they can't possibly do any worse than Bush has done.

E. Horowitz

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