Obama and Bush both deserve credit

I am so proud of our military for taking out Osama bin Laden the other day. But the forgotten man of this affair is former President George W. Bush. Our current President failed to mention him during his speech reporting the death of bin Laden. It might be useful to take a look at the last several years to see what a debt Obama owes Bush.


We now know that CIA interrogators during the Bush administration gathered the initial information that ultimately led to bin Laden's death. The United States located al Qaeda's leader by learning the identity of a trusted courier from the tough interrogations of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of the 9/11 attacks, and his successor, Abu Faraj al-Libi, according to The Wall Street Journal.

President George W. Bush, not Obama, constructed the interrogation and warrantless surveillance programs that allowed this week’s action to take place. Remember how congressional Democrats and media pundits viciously criticized him for allegedly exceeding his presidential powers and violating the Bill of Rights? We were all going to live in a police state if Bush got his way, right?

After he became President, Obama set to work to dismantle the methods Bush had employed to keep us safe. In January 2009, he signed executive orders to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and limit the CIA to U.S. military interrogation methods. He made it clear that al Qaeda leaders would be tried in civilian courts. And in August 2009, his attorney general, Eric Holder, launched a criminal investigation into CIA officers who had interrogated al Qaeda leaders. Nice, huh? Our own people were being investigated instead of Islamic terrorists.

What would have happened if Obama had been in power immediately after the attack on the Twin Towers? After their "arrest," we would have read KSM and al-Libi their Miranda rights, provided them legal counsel, sent them to the U.S. for detention, and granted them all the rights provided a U.S. citizen in criminal proceedings. Of course, we would have gained no information to fight terror, and their trials would have become an anti-America farce.

The good news is that things have changed. Congressional pressure and reality have forced Mr. Obama to give up his law-enforcement approach to terrorism. Thanks to congressional funding riders, Gitmo remains open and terrorist detainees there cannot be brought to the United States. Attorney General Holder has finally dropped his ill-conceived plan to prosecute al Qaeda leaders in Manhattan, and he has now restarted the military commissions devised by the Bush administration. By the way, has there ever been such an inept attorney general?

Other good news has followed. The repatriation of Gitmo detainees has ceased, again due to congressional pressure. Mr. Obama's advisers have even publicly reaffirmed his authority to capture or kill terrorists as enemy combatants. Drone attacks have more than tripled.

Of course, Obama deserves credit for ordering the mission that killed bin Laden. But he and the American people should also recognize that he succeeded despite his urge to disavow Bush administration policies. I’m hoping that the American people, if not Obama, will acknowledge George W. Bush’s role in making last week's dramatic success possible.