President George W. Bush's Interrogations Policies Led to the Killing of Bin Laden

     Although United States President Barak Obama deserves credit for authorizing the mission that resulted in the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces, the credit for the intelligence lead that led to the raid belongs to former President George W. Bush.  The lead was developed several years ago as a result of Bush's policy of interrogating terrorist detainees.  Bush's policy reflected his strategy of recognizing that Islamists were at war with the U.S.

     Obama thus benefitted from the Bush lead, even though he weakened U.S. interrogation practices.  Like President Bill Clinton, Obama has often treated terrorism like a criminal matter, not a war crime, as Bush did.  Terrorists captured in the U.S. have been read their rights under the Obama Administration, including the right to remain silent, and criminally charged before proper interrogations could be conducted, while terrorists caught on the battlefield are subject to the same interrogation policy as in the U.S. Army Field Manual.  The manual is published, which allows the terrorists to practice interrogation resistance techinques. 

     Liberals and some libertarians had harshly criticized Bush for not criminally charging the terrorists or treating them as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention, which would have protected the terrorists from interrogations, even though they are war criminals, not regular soldiers, who were the only ones intended to be covered under the Convention.  The weakening of U.S. interrogations was the main policy difference between Obama and Bush on the War on Terrorism, as Obama has followed nearly every other Bush policy in the War, despite his previous criticisms of his predessor.

     It is doubtful, therefore, that the human intelligence, which had been drastically cut under the Clinton Administration, that resulted in bin Laden's death would have been acquired under Clinton or Obama interrogation policies, or those advocated by their liberal supporters in Congress and in the general public.  The killing of bin Laden by the American military as a result of the work of U.S. intelligence services represents the fruition of Bush's policies. 

     As I noted in my last post, the War on Terrorism is not yet won, but a major victory has been achieved by the U.S.  Nevertheless, the greatness of President Bush on the War on Terrorism now is becoming increasingly apparent.  I have repeatedly praised President Obama on this blog for continuing Bush's other policies in the War, but I now call upon him to return to Bush's interrogation policies which have proven to be successful.

     I congratulate President Obama, President Bush, the U.S. military and intelligence services for the successful raid on bin Laden's compound.  As a member of a family of one of the victims of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks, I especially thank you for bringing justice to bin Laden.  May we always remember the victims of all of the al-Qaeda attacks.  May God Bless America.

     Please visit the website listed on my blog, 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America.