Quote Originally Posted by Kirkland Laing View Post
Also, too, what do you mean when you say Bush "quandered a golden opportunity to gain valuable, permanent diplomatic ground in the months and years after the attacks." ?

After 9/11, even traditional U.S. enemies (or non-sympathizers) were totally lined up with the U.S. against Al-Qaeda and the forces of global terrorism. Bush's popularity at home reached record highs, and for the time being was not as despised abroad as usual. But his ill-aimed policies eroded any momentum he should've had after 9/11. You've already seen (and probably posted) Bush's atrocious approval ratings at home during his administration. Now see how he was viewed abroad during his term.


Global Public Opinion in the Bush Years (2001-200 | Pew Global Attitudes Project


Bush did himself no favors by insisting on the WMD campaign when it became painfully aware to everyone (here and abroad) that he was on a silly wild goose chase. He went to great lengths making airport terminals safer (albeit with a lot of inconveniences suffered by air travelers)..... but neglected to make the airplanes themselves safer. Tell me..... how is it that you cannot take a nail clipper on board, but the door to the cockpit is still as vulnerable as before? And why aren't there armed marshalls aboard every flight, like they reportedly do in Israel?

But globally, Bush was held in the same disdain toward the end of his term as he was before 9/11. If that's not squandering a golden chance to galvanize global opinion in his favor, I don't know what is.