I am spurred to Hanson’s call to action to write. Professor Henson and I will disagree about many things, but a civil discourse is essential to any active university campus. Here are my thoughts, as scattered as they may be.

Before I say anything more, has anyone noticed the similarity between the names Henson and Hanson?

One of the many things that Professor Henson’s latest editorial stated is that George W. Bush “has been woefully inept at catching Osama bin Laden.” I’d like to remind Professor Henson and all who raise this point that Clinton had not one, not two, but three documented opportunities to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. Some of you make be quick to jump and say, “But, during his presidency he didn’t have reason to do so.” How wrong you are. Al-Qaeda was an extremely active terrorist agency throughout Clinton’s presidency. I won’t go into details and bore you with Clinton’s multiple failures to protect the United States, but you can read all about it in “Losing bin Laden: How Clinton’s Failures Unleashed Global Terror,” by Richard Miniter.

While it is possible to come up with any book to back any opinion, the contents of this book contain cold hard facts. Obviously there are opinions- — look at the title. My challenge to those who are scoffing at my article is to read this book, then scoff away.

Now, some of you will say, you are just talking about the past, what about Bush? To respond to that, I say Bush has put protecting the United States and combating terrorism at the top of his priorities. He is committing as many resources as possible to catching bin Laden, and to argue against this is just foolish.

A very sad day for many liberals was the day Saddam Hussein was captured. First and foremost, this took away their opportunity to bemoan that Bush hadn’t captured him yet. Secondly, they lost someone they had pandered to for over a decade. I’ll never forget during the time leading up to the invasion of Iraq when liberals were screaming, “Wait! France, Germany and Russia are opposed to any action against Iraq! We should be, too!” President Chirac was a close friend of Saddam’s, and Russia actively sold weapons to Iraq until the Coalition forces moved into Iraq. It is necessary to look past the fact that these countries simply opposed action against Iraq.

This brings me to my next point. The United Nations must stop allowing itself to be completely useless, especially with the imposing threat that Iran is posing. Palestine is now run by a terrorist organization (anybody remember a group called the Taliban?), North Korea is still being North Korea and countries that are active documented human rights violators are serving on the U.N. human rights commission. Houston, we have a problem here.

In no way am I suggesting eliminating the United Nations, but it is in the process of moving to completely and utterly useless. Only the United Nations can save itself from elimination now.

Another great point that Henson makes is that President Bush’s action in the Middle East has “given birth to radical fundamentalist Islamism and Jihadism in Iraq, Palestine, Iran, and Lebanon.” That is a pretty bold and even more ridiculous claim. To suggest that President Bush’s actions gave birth to fundamentalist Islamism and Jihadism in these countries is like suggesting that removing a wasps’ nest from a school’s playground gave birth to a wasp’s stinger. These beliefs are deeply rooted in that culture and have been around long before President Bush took office.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but these beliefs have spurred terrorist attacks over the past centuries, including the past 15 years. These beliefs brought on the embassy attacks, the USS Cole attack and 9/11, to name just a few. This claim is the most dismissible of all that Henson makes.

One more political note. Many of you will automatically label me a die-hard Republican who thinks Bush is the second coming, and you are wrong. I do not agree with everything the Republican Party says and does.

Disagree with what I’ve said? Write an editorial discussing it and your counterpoints. Unless you know me and just don’t like me, don’t resort to attacking the writer. Thanks for reading.

Kevin Lavelle is a sophomore management science major. He may be contacted at [email protected].