Columnist praises Bush’s handling of terrorist threats

Thursday, May 22, 2003 | 9:03 a.m.

As the United States braces for a possible terrorist attack, columnist and political analyst Charles Krauthammer said he is optimistic for Middle East peace despite the recent spate of suicide bombings there.

More terrorist attacks may occur around the world before some peace arrives, he said.

Krauthammer, a syndicated columnist for the Washington Post, an essayist for Time magazine, a political analyst for Fox News, a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard and The New Republic and a weekly panelist on "Inside Washington," said the United States needs to continue its efforts at combating terrorism.

He spoke at Temple Beth Sholom Wednesday night as part of the Shirley and Sidney Chaplin Lecture Series.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration has built a government that is "audacious and creative," Krauthammer said. He compared the Bush approach to that of President Harry Truman, who ushered the country from World War II into the Cold War era.

"I know we went to orange alert yesterday," Krauthammer said, "but 20 months later, we have not had another attack in the United States."

Krauthammer said he did not support Bush for president, preferring Republican candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona, but once terrorists struck in New York and Washington, Bush rose to the challenge, he said.

"For three months after 9-11, I saw (Vice President Dick) Cheney several times and he was at least 60 miles away from the president," Krauthammer said.

Cheney and Bush separated "because they really didn't know if the second shoe would drop," Krauthammer said. In case of a second devastating attack, they wanted someone to survive and be able to run the government.

The columnist defended Bush's decision to attack terrorists in Afghanistan and go to war with the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq.

"People say the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq will make the terrorists angrier and more likely to attack," he said. "Look, these people are as angry as you can get. You're not going to make them angrier. You want to make them deader."

Ultimately the United States wants democracy to spread throughout the Middle East. Democracies are not aggressive, he said.

"All they want to do is play the slots, watch television and have a nice life," Krauthammer said.

"Anybody who says Arabs cannot be democratic are racists. Arabs can have democracy. They want democracy. That is why I am optimistic."