Bush team may be smarter than you think (Score 1)

If we look into the effects of their decisions or apparent negligence, one may consider Bush team to be a true master of politics.

* 9/11 is a good thing for Bush. It helps to create an urgent issue of national security, thus diverting attention from national economy, public health, environment, and other difficult issues that could not be solved in 4 years. It helps to consolidate power and silence oppositions (Who dare to oppose a legislation named "Patriot act" ? only the unpatriotic ones, of course) This issue helps Bush appearing as a strong national leader. Risks ? What is the risk in fighting the poorest country on earth or an isolated crippled developing country ? None. It is all positive for Bush.

* A dependent Iraq is also a good thing for US. It provides justification for long-term US military presence to secure US interests. The war justifies increased US spending, which rewards many US companies in their patronage network. It also forced the Iraqi oil export to be dollar denominated, thus strengthing value of dollars and ease US inflation.

When a rich and powerful group of people play dumb, a reasonable person should think twice...