Columnist’s praise of Bush is wrong

5/7/2013
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Charles Krauthammer’s April 28 op-ed column, “Bush deserves more credit than he receives,” is misleading with skewed facts.

As a mother whose son was unnecessarily murdered in Afghanistan by the — as Mr. Krauthammer put it — overthrown Taliban and decimated al-Qaeda, I resent the implication that war was one of President George W. Bush’s achievements.

Choosing to declare a war in Iraq that was based on false information and that we were not prepared to conduct or to finish when the battles were done was not an achievement. It was a crime.

The war in Iraq was supported by Mr. Bush’s administration and Congress, but they thought they were given accurate information and chose to trust the president. They didn’t think Mr. Bush would be so reckless as to risk the lives of thousands of dedicated, patriotic young men and women on false pretenses.

Had we not been in Iraq, billions of dollars would have been saved. Troops could have been more properly trained, equipped, and used in Afghanistan. The consequences of Iraq would not have happened and the war in Afghanistan would have been more effectively conducted.

Mr. Krauthammer’s support of Mr. Bush has often been obvious, but this time he went too far. He owes every Gold Star family since 2003 a remorseful apology.

SHARON BELKOFER
Perrysburg Township