Proud to be an American

By Lance Hahn

In Ron Suskind's new book, "The Price of Loyalty," former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill accuses President Bush of "plotting the invasion of Iraq just days after taking office." And, boy, are the news media relishing the opportunity to bash our president.

Leadership change in Iraq has been an official U.S. policy goal since Congress passed the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998, and it was officially adopted as foreign policy by the president at the time. Does anyone remember who that was? It was Bill Clinton.

"It should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime," according to the Iraq Liberation Act.

Is it possible that President Bush was simply following the policy passed on to him?

The Iraq Liberation Act says once Saddam was removed from the power, the United States "should support Iraq's transition to democracy."

The act has broad bipartisan support in the House of Representatives. Republicans back the bill 202-9. Democrats voted 157-29 for the measure. Among the congressional Democrats voting yes were Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Rep. Richard Gephardt.

As early as 1999, then-candidate Bush made it clear that Iraq would be dealt with. In a speech at the Citadel in South Carolina on Sept. 23, 1999, Bush said achieving peace in the world would "require firmness with regimes like North Korea and Iraq, regimes that hate our values and resent our success. I will address all these priorities in the future."

O'Neill's allegations and charges against President Bush kind of fade out when you take a look back in history. O'Neill was fired by Bush because he opposed the president's tax cuts. When the economy goes up or down, who gets the credit or the blame? The secretary of the treasury or the president? I think we can agree that the president gets the heat.

So since O'Neill was opposed to the tax cuts and because the tax cuts helped recharge the economy as Bush had hoped, does it not look like this book was perhaps a political hatchet job?

The press is spinning it just as far as it can take it. Why does it always seem like our national news outlets leap at the chance to discredit our leaders and our country's intentions? In countries where the United States is hated most -- Russia, China, Syria, Iran -- their newspapers print only positive accounts of their own leadership. But not here in the United States. If we can't find something negative to report, we feel like people won't be interested. What a pathetic outlook.

It's people like O'Neill who give the terrorists and our enemies continued hope for their mission to destroy us. We better wake up as a nation and unite before it's too late, because it's not about George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Republicans or Democrats. It's about this great country and the freedoms we cherish.

It's about being an American -- a proud American.

Lance Hahn is a resident of Millersville.