Last Thursday, the arrest of a terrorist cell in Britain prompted headlines of "
Mass murder on an unimaginable scale." Thousands of Israeli troops waited at the Lebanese border for orders to cross into enemy terrain, while Hezbollah fired over
140 rockets into northern Israel. That day, in the Al Anbar province of Iraq, 18-year-old
Lance Corporal Jeremy Long from Nevada was killed by hostile fire. As he died, the President of the United States of America was
on vacation.
The president urged Americans to be vigilant, and patient with the many inconveniences that will result from the increased threat level.
After the remarks, Bush toured the Fox Valley Metal-Tech factory, using a machine to bend a piece of metal and greeting employees who stopped to stare by playfully shouting "Get back to work!"
Later, Bush headlined a $1,000-per-person fund-raiser.
Five years ago last week, President Bush was beginning the
longest presidential vacation since Nixon's when he was given a daily briefing document titled "
Bin Laden determined to strike in US." It said:
Clandestine, foreign government, and media reports indicate bin Laden since 1997 has wanted to conduct terrorist attacks in the US... We have not been able to corroborate some of the more sensational threat reporting, such as that from a [redacted] service in 1998 saying that Bin Laden wanted to hijack a U.S. aircraft... Nevertheless, FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.
Shortly after the President's vacation, agents of Osama bin Laden hijacked four planes and flew them into buildings in New York and Washington, DC, killing 2,973 people. As of today 2,831 military personnel have been killed in Iraq. Osama bin Laden is thought to be hiding near Pakistan.
One year ago last week, President Bush was beginning the longest planned presidential vacation ever. Later that month, a hurricane caused flooding in New Orleans, leaving several thousand people dead and well over one million people in need of federal disaster assistance. After New Orleans flooded, with 16,000 people trapped in the New Orleans Superdome and bodies floating in the streets, President Bush waited for two days to end his vacation.
At the start of this year's vacation, President Bush flew to Ohio in response to recent flooding and pledged there to "help people rebuild their lives." The flooding was caused by ten inches of rain, and killed one man. As he spoke, one year after the New Orleans hurricane, 60 percent of homes and businesses in that city are without electricity or gas, 3 of 9 hospitals are open, and 56 of 128 public schools are enrolling students. During his visit to Ohio President Bush raised $1.5 million for Republican Kenneth Blackwell to run for governor.
The day before yesterday, President Bush ended his August vacation for this year. As he settled back into the White House, five coordinated bombs in Baghdad killed at least 62 people. The family and friends, 800 in all, of 20-year-old Army Sgt. Ryan Jopek laid him to rest in Wisconsin. In all, at least 18 soldiers and marines were killed in Iraq while President Bush vacationed in Texas this month.
Osama bin Laden is free, and planning to attack us again. Almost 3,000 of our children have been killed in Iraq. Visitors to New Orleans see "mile after mile of devastation." You cannot carry toothpaste onto an airplane. President George W. Bush is back at work.
BushWatch is a feature of The Next Hurrah. Read parts 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
The original BushWatch site (no relation).