John Boehner, June 4, 2004

Throughout the summer, as the weather heats up so too will the temperature of American politics. Democrats and Republicans will hold their national conventions. The transition to a new Iraqi government on June 30th is sure to spark significant debate. And the commission investigating the September 11th terrorist attacks will release a report of their findings -- sure to be a political hot potato of its own.

Much of the rhetoric will not be surprising. Party conventions are focused solely on politics, and given the very deep split between those who agree with our decision to oust Saddam Hussein and those who don’t, the debate about the future of Iraq is bound to continue. However, the fact that the September 11th commission’s findings will generate increased partisan politics is uniquely unfortunate.

In many ways, it seems so long ago when my colleagues -- Republican and Democrat alike - and I stood on the steps of the Capitol on the evening after those devastating attacks and sang "God Bless America." Despite this initial unity, nearly three years after that tragic September day, it too has not escaped the clutches of Beltway politics.

The most shocking -- and indeed, most appalling -- example of how 9/11 has become politicized is the shameless attacks toward the Bush Administration for somehow not preventing it. Several weeks ago - as the 9/11 commission’s hearings seemed to lose nearly all credibility because of what a political circus they had become - I read an item on the world wide web written by the liberal writer Gregg Easterbrook titled "An Alternative History." In this article, he described the fictitious -- yet not far-fetched, given the current state of U.S. politics - consequences if President Bush had reacted to the loose patchwork of intelligence information about al Qaeda’s activities prior to September 11, 2001. He began, "A hush fell over the city as George W. Bush today became the first president of the United States ever to be removed from office by impeachment."

Why impeachment? Easterbrook explained that on August 7, 2001, President Bush had ordered a United States military attack on alleged terrorist camps in Afghanistan. At that same time, FBI agents staged raids throughout the U.S., arresting dozens of men accused of terrorist plots. As you might expect, since al Qaeda was not the household name it now is, the reaction to this seemingly unprovoked decision of the President was met with sharp resistance at home and abroad. Not only had Members of Congress called for the President’s removal from office, but public opinion polls showed overwhelming resistance to the President’s actions, his national security advisor would be tried as a war criminal, and some nations boycotted American products.

Now, let’s take a step back. In August 2001, President Bush was in office for only seven months. He was inaugurated after the most contested presidential election in American history, winning by only a handful of electoral votes. Had he ordered attacks and raids based on the spotty intelligence available to him at the time, I would argue that this fictional account would not be too far off base.

This article was Easterbrook’s way of illustrating the political equivalent of "Monday morning quarterbacking." In other words, it’s easy for some to criticize the President nearly three years after the fact, especially if those doing the criticizing were never "in the game." We know that there was no actionable intelligence available to President Bush prior to 9/11. Had there been any, I guarantee this President would have acted - and acted decisively.

More than that, though, Easterbrook’s article is a fresh reminder of what the War on Terrorism is all about. Because of 9/11, we know there are far too many people in this world willing to stop at nothing -- even sacrificing their own lives - to attack us and our way of life. President Bush understands this better than anyone and, likewise, will stop at nothing to defend our nation with just as much energy as those who seek to destroy it.

We learned a harsh lesson on September 11th. In the three years since, we have witnessed two distinct reactions to that lesson learned. One involves politics and Monday-morning quarterbacking. The other involves decisiveness and leadership. This summer, the difference between the two will become even more crystal clear.

Congressman John Boehner, a Republican, represents Ohio's Eighth Congressional District, which includes Miami, Butler, Preble, Darke, and Mercer Counties.