Within the first 10 minutes of last night’s debate it was clear that not one of the Democratic presidential candidates understands the nature of the threat posed by Islamic extremists who want to destroy our country.
On the day after another plot to kill thousands of Americans and destroy our economy was exposed, the Democrats uniformly expressed reluctance about taking out Osama bin Laden.
Following 9/11 no one believed we could go nearly 6 years without another major attack. But we have thwarted plenty of them, and our military action in Afghanistan and Iraq has unquestionably hindered Al Qaeda’s ability to attack us. Yet not a single Democrat could manage to give President Bush any credit for success in stopping major terrorist attacks in the United States since 2001.
But plenty of Democrats wanted to blame Bush for not stopping 9/11, even though he had only been in office for a few months and the plot had been in the works for five years.
This national security divide can also be seen in the debate over immigration reform. As Fred Barnes makes clear in his analysis, the Democrats pushed for the “Z” Visas, while the Republicans pushed for border security.
Although I agree with the bill’s critics that border security measures in the bill need to be strengthened, it is clear that Republicans are pushing security while Democrats are pushing amnesty.
Will it really take another terrorist attack on U.S. soil to wake up the Democrats to the threats we face? I pray not. When it comes to national security, we need all our elected officials to “get it.” Right now the Democrats don’t.
