July 17, 2003

The liberation of Afghanistan and Iraq created shockwaves of peace that are ever-expanding as they reverberate from the epicenter of those war-torn nations.

The waves are so powerful and so awe inspiring they are now becoming noticeable in other parts of the world as they have transcended the boundaries of the Middle East.

During the height of the debate about whether the Coalition of the Willing should enter Iraq and free the people from Saddam's despotic regime, many of the United Nation's members seemed to care very little about the starvation, torture, repression and destruction of Iraqi citizens.

As the Coalition of the Willing pushed forward with its plan to free those people, President Bush was verbally attacked by minority leaders in America and foreign leaders abroad. Nelson Mandela openly castigated the president and mendaciously called him a racist, claiming Bush wouldn't work with the U.N. because it was headed by a black man. This despite the fact minorities hold more upper level positions in the Bush administration than any other administration in American history!

Buoyed by a strong foreign policy presence following the conflict in Iraq, the president and his administration began to seek closure for the warring factions of Palestinians and Israelis by laying out the guidelines for a road map to peace.

At the president's insistence, head Palestinian terrorist Yassir Arafat was replaced with Mahmoud Abbas, who has been accepted by the administration and seems willing to work with Israel towards the designation of a Palestinian state free from terrorist organizations that would ultimately lead to a cessation of violence, thereby creating peace in the region.

So the rings of American diplomacy expand farther and as those waves swell they increase the stature of President Bush's presence on the global stage. Suddenly, countries which have suppressed their people for years are facing retribution for their crimes as the people fight back and are appealing to the president for help because the U.N. has become impotent.

An example of this is in Iran, where the younger populace has been fighting the clerics for control of the country as they strive for democracy.

Now the African continent is calling. U.N. president Kofi Annan, who berated president Bush during the Iraq debate, has asked him for assistance in quelling the violence in Liberia because his U.N. peacekeepers are powerless or unwilling to stop the carnage.

Liberia is a war-torn country in Western Africa that was founded in 1816 as a settlement for freed American slaves. The people there have lived in constant turmoil for decades and have endured civil wars since the early 1980s when President Reagan increased funding from a few million to more than $60 million in aid for the impoverished country, to the Clinton administration who sent Jesse Jackson as the American envoy to help his friend and known African terrorist Charles Taylor gain the presidency.

Since then Taylor has led a despotic regime so brutal that he has been indicted by an international court supported by the UN for crimes against humanity and the people of Liberia are chanting, "We want Bush." The president has requested Taylor step down and along with a military presence it is hoped the Liberians have finally found the key to peace in their country with the support of the president.

Democrat attacks of President Bush are nothing more than sophistry when illuminated by the facts of reality. The president hasn't tainted the stature of America throughout the world, he has strengthened it.

Freedom and peace are more prevalent on the planet today than existed five years ago because the waves of peace created by President Bush was done so through strength and leadership.


Lee P Butler