Bush made the world safer

Oliver Kamm in The Guardian (of all places!) writes about how Bush really has made the world a safer place:

For all Bush's verbal infelicity, diplomatic brusqueness, negligence in planning for post-Saddam Iraq, and insouciance regarding standards of due process when prosecuting the war on terror, the world is a safer place for the influence he has exercised.

Sure, it may have a little bite, but the fact of the matter is that the world is a safer place now. And one of the reasons it is safer is because the Bush administration (and the West in general) have identified the enemy that presents the greatest threat to our society:

The most fundamental decision in western security policy in the past seven years has not been the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. It has been the recognition that the most voluble adversaries of western society are not merely a criminal subculture, and still less an incipient liberation movement. Rather, they are a reactionary, millenarian and atavistic force with whom accommodation is impossible as well as intensely undesirable.

I actually feel sorry for Bush; he may not be a great communicator and he's made plenty of bad decisions but he's been one of the most courageous and ambitious Presidents in memory. His hand was forced by 9/11, but he met the challenge with a good heart, strong values and a steadfast belief in the advancement of freedom and liberty. Sometimes what you want isn't always what you need, and as much as a lot of people like to play the 'we wouldn't be in this mess if Gore had won' card, the person the world needed on September 12, like it or not, was George W. Bush.