By Scott Hagen
Collegian Reporter

The world is a different place than it was two years ago. A large factor in the change that has evolved in foreign policy and international diplomacy is President George W. Bush.

With a resolve that strengthens the United States and, yes, even at times, a cowboy attitude toward world opponents, Bush is sculpting the foundation of his legacy through a dark period in American history.

The economy turned sour after years of prosperity under Bill Clinton. Terrorists hijacked and crashed jetliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Allies have abandoned us in the most important period in recent American history. Still, Bush has handled the obstacles with the tenacity of a seasoned statesman, in a new era of geo-political diplomacy.

No president in the past half-century has faced challenges as Bush has. It’s funny now, remembering all those who labeled him a moron, incapable of running the government and at worst, a man who would destroy the world. And, of course, there were those who challenged his legitimacy as president. On Sept. 11, 2001, the new issue of Newsweek hit newsstands, and splashed on its cover was a picture of the president in an unflattering pose, with a caption that announced how Bush stole the election. Even the latest issue of the New Republic has a cover story on the “Sept. 10” president.

Maybe the president before the attacks was different, but as he said at the time, circumstances redefined his presidency. Since then, Bush has taken the actions necessary to ensure that nothing awful and tragic ever happens again on American soil, or to Americans anywhere else.

His decision to begin the war in Iraq, despite the failure of the United Nations to pass a resolution, may be the most significant since the Truman doctrine. The decision symbolically says that the United States will do whatever is necessary to ensure its safety, no matter the cost.

Our place in the world, and how other countries see us, is still important. But it does not take priority over the safety of the United States.

But so many fail to recognize how important that decision is. As the war lingered in its early stages, nearly 300,000 protesters marched in New York, vehemently opposing the decision to oust Saddam Hussein. To put it another way, there were nearly one thousand protesters for each man, woman and child that innocently died on Sept. 11. It is disgusting.

And even Newsweek, on its March 24 cover, has the caption, “Why America Scares the World: and what to do about it,” with an illustration of the 21,500-pound “Mother of All Bombs.”

It gets worse. The article leads with the massive headline “The Arrogant Empire,” with a picture of a U.S. Marine holding a large rifle. For 14 pages, the author, Fareed Zakaria, rants about the evil nation of America, and, moreover, what Bush can do to improve our appearance across the globe. It is a sad statement, masquerading behind the façade of fact and truth. The article should be labeled as opinion, not news.

But no matter what one writer or thousands of protesters may think, Bush is leading America to its new station in the world, where America will never have to surrender freedom for security. Bush is strengthening and preserving the United States for all who may come after us.
Scott Hagen is a senior majoring in history.