Questions for President Bush (11/24/02)

by Dean Hartwell

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently asked the one question journalists and President Bush's political opponents have not asked enough: "Where is Osama bin Laden?"

Bush once said cockily that he wanted bin Laden "dead or alive." To Putin, however, he had no answer.

With the recent approval by both the United States' Congress and the United Nations Security Council of the use of force against Iraq, the following questions should be raised by U.S. citizens of their leader:

How can the United States fight wars on two fronts at the same time?

In terms of troops, we have enough of them for both conflicts. But if acts of terrorism occur again in the United States or our allies, we would likely spread ourselves too thin.

Can we trust President Bush to follow through on what he says he will do?

The idea of committing soldiers to a new conflict without having finished first one ought to raise doubts about the president's sincerity. With Bush's popularity still high, it is unlikely too many Democrats and members of the media will have the courage to raise these doubts.

Will the Bush Administration keep on fighting wars perpetually?

In his State of the Union speech earlier this year, the president named three nations in what he termed the "axis of evil" - Iraq, Iran and North Korea. With the recent admission by North Korea that it has a nuclear program, they could be next.

Asking President Bush questions may not lead to answers right away, but it's an important start. Politicians, journalists and other citizens should take a cue for President Putin and ask Bush what we need to know.