There are many differences between President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry.  But perhaps the most striking of these differences is their assessment as to how the events of September 11th have affected their view of the world.  President Bush has said that September 11th “changed everything,”  Senator Kerry, meanwhile, states that September 11th “didn’t change me much at all.”  While President Bush focuses his comments on how September 11th changed the psyche of the American people, Senator Kerry is content to talk about himself as if no one else mattered.

Whether John Kerry wants to admit it or not, September 11th changed how people look at the sky when they hear an airplane.    It changed whether people left their bags and belongings at home if they went to a stadium or arena.  It changed how we thought about visiting family or friends whether they lived abroad or at home.  It changed the perception that we were somehow immune from a large scale terrorist attack.  If people did not know the name Osama bin Laden or al Qaeda before September 11th, we sure know it now.

September 11th also challenged us to adapt to unprecedented, unpleasant circumstances.  But oddly enough it also compelled us to recognize how fortunate we really are in the grand scheme of things, and how that fortune called freedom is not only worth protecting here but worth spreading to the rest of the world.

George W. Bush did not intend to become a “War President,” much less a President who would pay much concern to foreign policy.  September 11th forced President Bush to show our enemies that we are a proud people and not soft in the face of hardship.  It also compelled President Bush to face facts that his predecessors, including his own father, were unwilling to confront.

We had to confront governments that sanctioned, comforted and aided terrorists.  We also had to confront governments that show little regard if not outright disdain for their own people.  In Taliban ruled Afghanistan, women were held in no more regard than animals.  As a result of President Bush’s decision to remove the Taliban from Afghanistan, we have witnessed an election in a country where none was ever held before.  We witnessed in Afghanistan an election where the voices of men and women alike were heard and counted equally.

Although Saddam Hussein was not involved with the events of September 11th, he certainly praised those efforts.  The fact that al Qaeda had a training camp in Iraq called Salman Pak, and that al-Zarqawi sought refuge in Baghdad after being wounded in Afghanistan, certainly demonstrated that Saddam had common cause with al Qaeda’s mission.

Frankly, the Gulf War never really ended.  There was a cease fire that Saddam repeatedly violated, resulting in 17 UN Security Council Resolutions warning against continued violations of the cease fire.  And guess what?  He continued to violate them.  We were still at war with Iraq and the UN was showing itself to be little more than a paper tiger.  This didn’t prevent President Bush from going to the UN General Assembly in good faith.  He even saw to it that the United States re-enter UNESCO (United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization).  Although another resolution was passed warning Iraq of serious consequences, the UN dragged its feet while Saddam’s killing machines dragged onward.  It appears that key members of the UN Security Council, particularly France, Russia and Germany were compromised by the benefits they received via the notorious Oil for Food program that was all but run by Saddam Hussein himself.    

On top of the repeated violations of the Gulf War cease fire, President Bush could not take a chance that Saddam would use his resources to assist al Qaeda or other terrorist organizations.  He had to be removed.     

Although the finding of WMDs did not come to fruition, the world is now rid of one of its most ruthless dictators.  Iraq has a very long way to go.  As long as there is a concerted effort to kidnap and behead people this matter is far from resolved.  But people need not fear having their tongues and genitals cut out because they allegedly spoke out against Saddam.  The new Iraqi government does not sanction violence or suppress opinion.  There are hundreds of newspapers in Iraq that demonstrate this amply.    There are terrorists who would surely undo even this progress, never mind the elections that are coming in January 2005.   

President Bush also became the first American President to endorse the notion of a Palestinian State.  But he also said that the Palestinians had to make a choice between achieving statehood or choosing terrorism, but could not have both.  So far the Palestinians have not chosen statehood.

President Bush also effectively ostracized Yasser Arafat.  Under Bill Clinton, Arafat visited the White House 21 times -- more often than any other foreign leader.  Under George W. Bush, Arafat has never visited the White House nor will he so long as President Bush has anything to say about the matter.  Arafat sealed his fate when he lied about having knowledge about arms that were shipped to the Palestinian Authority on the Iranian ship, Karine A.    

While becoming the first President to endorse a Palestinian state, he became the first American President to insist that Israel has a right to defend its own.  While the rest of the world has abandoned Israel, President Bush has stood beside it and supported its efforts to stop suicide bombings through the construction of the security barrier along the West Bank.  He has also supported Ariel Sharon’s plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

President Bush has also overseen efforts to bring peace to the Sudan and to Liberia.  He also initiated a plan that would spend $15 billion to stop the spread of AIDS in Africa.  Colonel Gahdaffi of Libya announced it plans to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction rather than face Saddam’s fate.

Of course, there are other matters looming.  Not all of these situations will necessarily involve putting our troops into harm’s way.  North Korea will be an ongoing concern and there will be a continued need to work with South Korea, Japan and China to keep North Korea in line.  There is also the matter of Iran.    Unlike Saddam’s Iraq, there exists a strong internal opposition to the government.  Of course if Iran insists on developing a nuclear weapon this may prove to be problematic, but it may also demonstrate how strong their civil society really is.

I disagree with George W. Bush on a number of matters.  I do not share his opinion on gay marriage or the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment.  I am also not entirely convinced by the merits of Health Savings Accounts and some of his other domestic initiatives.  But all things considered I would rather have George W. Bush continue as Commander in Chief.  Government’s principal obligation is to protect its people and to do so without apology.  President Bush had done this and is prepared to continue to do so.  If we lose our liberty, none of the disagreements I have will mean anything.

Prior to September 11th, I was committed socialist.  For over a year after September 11th , I was unsure what to think.  My old left wing allies saw President Bush and the United States as a greater threat than Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.      But President Bush did not navigate planes into the World Trade Center.  President Bush was not responsible for mass graves in Iraq.  That the Left was unable to distinguish between a man who defends liberty and men who would take it away from them told me that I could no longer stand with them.   

There was a time when the Left recognized the evils of Nazism.    There were many of the social democratic persuasion who also recognized the evils of Communism.  But today’s Left only recognizes the evils of the United States (and for that matter, Israel).

Rather than praising our country and its values, it apologizes for them and embraces the likes of Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, who do not hesitate to liken us to the Nazis while praising the Pol Pots, Fidel Castros and Yasser Arafats of the world.  Isn’t it interesting that the people who praise communism are people who never had to live in a communist state?

Believe me, as recently as two years ago, I had no intention of voting for George W. Bush.  I was ready to hear an alternative.    A viable alternative.  I am still waiting.

John Kerry clamors that he will “win” the war on terror but considers Iraq a “diversion.”   He insists that President Bush “misled” the American public about going into Iraq but offers no evidence.  He chides President Bush for missing weapons in Iraq even though they disappeared under Saddam Hussein’s watch (and with his approval).

All John Kerry can say is that he will fight the war on terror “better” and “smarter.”  Gee, Howard Dean and Barney the Dinosaur could have said that as well.  That does not make for a viable alternative.

Four years ago, I did not vote for George W. Bush.  But I did not vote for Al Gore either.  Paul Begala was too busy writing The Case Against George W. Bush to bother thinking about The Case for Al Gore.  It would have been a mighty small book.    

When I vote for a candidate I do not have to always agree with him or her, but I must vote for that person rather than vote against their opponent.  John Kerry, like Al Gore before him, has not given me a reason to vote for him.  George W. Bush, on the other hand, has won me over and earned my respect.  George W. Bush has adapted to the new world in which we live.  John Kerry has not adapted but behaves as if September 11th had never happened.    How could anyone describe terrorism as a nuisance?  George W. Bush values liberty at home, would like to share it with others and believes it is our duty to spread it where it does not exist.  John Kerry would need to conduct a global test plus ten focus groups to determine if liberty was a good buzzword.  George W. Bush talks to people while John Kerry talks at them.  George W. Bush believes that America is worth fighting for while John Kerry believes we should feel guilty about the power we have and apologize to the world by not using it.  George W. Bush made me comfortable to call myself a conservative.  His conservatism values individualism, compassion, tolerance of different opinions and the ability to discuss them freely.  It is my conservatism as well.   On Tuesday, I will proudly cast my ballot for the re-election of President George W. Bush.

Aaron Goldstein, a former member of the socialist New Democratic Party, writes poetry and has a chapbook titled Oysters and the Newborn Child: Melancholy and Dead Musicians. His poetry can be viewed on www.poetsforthewar.org.