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Nile Gardiner obviously failed Critical Thinking in college

I read an article this morning which made me wonder if we were celebrating April Fool's Day and not Labor Day today in this country. The article came by way of conservative political commentator Nile Gardiner of The Telegraph, and was titled, "Barack Obama is proving an embarrassing amateur on the world stage compared to George W. Bush."

In the article, Gardiner wrote the following:

"George W. Bush was widely mocked by the Left during the Iraq War, with liberals jeering at the 'coalition of the willing,' which included in its ranks some minnows such as Moldova and Kazkhstan. ... But the coalition also contained, as I pointed out in Congressional testimony back in 2007, Great Britain, Australia, Spain, Italy, Poland, and 16 members of the NATO alliance, as well as Japan and South Korea. In Europe, France and Germany were the only large-scale countries that sat the war out, with 12 of the 25 members of the European Union represented. The coalition, swelled to roughly 40 countries, and was one of the largest military coalitions ever assembled.

As it stands, President Obama's proposed military coalition on Syria has a grand total of two members - the US and France. ... It is a truly embarrassing state of affairs when Paris, at best a fair weather friend, is your only partner. ...

... President Bush may not have been greatly loved on the world stage, but he was respected by America's allies, and feared by his enemies. In marked contrast, Obama hasn't generated a lot of respect abroad, and he certainly isn't feared."

It appears as if Mr. Gardiner either failed a Critical Thinking course in college or has developed Alzheimer's. Let's take a stroll back to memory lane...

On September 11th of 2001, the U.S. suffered the most devastating terrorist attack in its history. Most people and countries around the world sympathized with us a great deal and became more apt to supporting us in seeking revenge against terrorists in the Middle East by means of warfare. This led to wars in Afghanistan and then Iraq. Bush and his administration made it clear that the reason we were going to invade Iraq initially was because there was clear-cut evidence that they possessed weapons of mass destruction. Down the line it was discovered that Iraq hadn't possessed weapons of mass destruction and the war was based on a false pretense. This lie badly damaged our image abroad and played a large factor in President Obama touring the world not long into his presidency, as he attempted to repair our damaged relations with foreign nations. Now the world is experiencing a case of deja vu since President Obama and his administration is making the claim that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its own people, and should be punished through a U.S. strike.

In other words, if President Bush and his administration hadn't lied about Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction, which prompted us to war with them in the first place, President Obama and his administration probably wouldn't be having as difficult a time in convincing other nations and U.S. citizens that punishing Syria militarily is the right course of action.

As Bush himself once said: "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

Mr. Gardiner's rationale certainly makes him look like a fool. What he's saying is essentially this:

Situation: College psychology teacher gets caught physically and verbally abusing his students. With the replacement professor taking over, the class sees a significant downturn in the number of students taking it.

Gardiner's reaction: "Well, that new teacher sure must suck!"

Yes, as does his poor excuse for critical thinking abilities. Class dismissed.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100233454/barack-obama-is-proving-an-embarrassing-amateur-on-the-world-stage-compared-to-george-w-bush/

http://politicalhumor.about.com/cs/georgewbush/a/top10bushisms.htm

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