Dear Editor,
What happened to the 91 percent? On Sept. 20, 2001, the
president of the United States addressed the nation through a Joint
Session of Congress. He talked about the terrible attack on our
country. He assured us that we were going to be OK. And, he let us
know that we were going after the terrorists and the countries that
harbored them.
Dear Editor,
What happened to the 91 percent? On Sept. 20, 2001, the president of the United States addressed the nation through a Joint Session of Congress. He talked about the terrible attack on our country. He assured us that we were going to be OK. And, he let us know that we were going after the terrorists and the countries that harbored them.
Shortly after the address by President Bush, several polls were taken. The average was 91 percent. Ninety-one percent of the nation agreed with going after the terrorists and the countries that aided and abetted them. In the three years since the attacks, the change has been drastic. Almost half of the country disagrees with the administration’s position on the war on terror.
Here’s my question to those of you in the 91 percentile that no longer support the president. When he stated that he would go after the countries that harbored terrorists, how many of you didn’t know that Iraq was on that list? Be honest now … not many. You now conveniently, almost monolithically act obtuse when confronted with that question.
It would be hard to believe that anyone who remembered the first Gulf War wasn’t aware that we had unfinished business in Iraq. 1) Saddam Hussein was a sworn enemy. 2) He had tried to kill a former U.S. president. 3) He harbored known terrorists, and 4) He had violated 17 United Nations resolutions. I’ll give you the WMD. But remember, before the war, the entire intelligence community believed that Iraq possessed WMD.
If you don’t want to vote for “W”, don’t. Just don’t say you didn’t know what we were getting into. If you were paying attention at all, you understood completely. Fifty-two percent of us still do.
Please note, this letter is directed at only the original 91 percent. The other 9 percent of you that never wanted to defend our country in the first place have remained totally consistent. Now that’s something to be proud of … I guess.
Jim Lazarus, Gilroy
