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9/11 changed everything for this country and its citizens. It has affected all of our lives in some way -- travel, our attitudes, our freedoms. Most significantly, opponents of the initial invasion and overall war were afraid to speak out for fear of being labeled unpatriotic or unAmerican. Negative ads would be put out against any opponent so they feared losing political campaigns and so on, and with the PATRIOT Act and the free reign this government now had who knows what else the government would do. Rather everyone rallied around the Administration as they normally do in situations where the country is attacked - at least initially. The battle against terrorism might have been pursued more intelligently without utilizing all of our might and force, but for those fears of reprisals orchestrated by powerful forces within the Administration, it was continued according to their plan (or lack thereof). Had we acted more rationally and in cooperation and unison with world allies, perhaps it would have been conducted differently and more effectively. The war in Afghanistan should have been completed. I think we see more clearly now that this and Pakistan are primary areas where the terrorist live, train and thrive -- an extremely unstable area which already has WMD! The Bush Administration is guilty of many things: taking away our liberties and freedoms, destroying America's image and standing in the world, exhausting our resources, mounting tremendous debt resulting in the destruction of our economy, poorly planned and insufficiently funded programs (No Child Left Behind, Dept. of Homeland Security), instilling a cowboy combatitive attitude among citizens (owing any weapons you desire), etc., leaving our country weaker and more vulnerable than before 9/11. We were so consumed by this war, terrorism and whatever fears the Administration's rhetoric was putting out, we weren't watching other important matters. Yes, he and his cronies wanted to finish the job for Bush 1, which I suppose he did accomplish -- Hussain is gone, but the book isn't finished being written - the future will tell. I suspect that eventually a theological leader will take control ousting the American favored leadership and we'll have something similar to Iran.
