PDB- What if...

I was slightly undecided about doing this blogswarm as I had no idea what I wanted to say, but then I saw this post by Jess Wundrun and it got me thinking. She plays a game of "what if" as well, but I am taking it in a slightly different direction. What if Bush had actually paid attention to the memo and done something about it? What if the FBI agents in Minneapolis, Arizona and Florida had been able to get their warrants for suspicious people taking flight classes?

Well, then maybe we would have stopped 9/11 which it would seem, would set off a chain reaction of events.

• There would have no reason for the creation of the Patriot act.
• Bush would not have been able to sell fear as a way of getting re-elected.
• Possibly Bush does not even get a real chance at being re-elected considering how close the presidential elections in 2000 and 2008 were.
• The Democrats reclaim the presidency after only one term of Bush the Terrible.
• There is no reason to go into Afghanistan.
• There is no reason to blame Saddam Hussein for anything.
  
• We never have to hear the words Weapons of Mass Destruction.
• We never invade Iraq on false pretenses (ok so that may have happened anyway, but maybe not).
• Millions of innocent civilians and soldiers do not need to die in a civil war (yes despite this administrations protests, this is a civil war).
• Giuliani does not burst onto the national scene as quickly and for many people outside of NYC as positively (from what I hear he was not well liked in NYC until 9/11).
• The new FISA law does not exist as there is no reason.
• We never have to hear the words Guantanamo Bay Prison as there is no reason to create one.
  
• We never have to hear the words Axis of Evil.

As to the Axis of Evil, that was one of the dumbest things Bush ever said from an International Relations standpoint (I got my bachelors in International Relations, so this is a point I feel I must make). The relations between the U.S. and both Iran and North Korea had actually improved during the Clinton years to where there was some diplomacy going on. Much of the diplomacy especially with Iran was behind the scenes, but it still existed. If Bush had not lumped these two nations in with Iraq for no apparent reason other than he could, possibly the relations could have stayed at least somewhat cordial and we wouldn't be dealing with two nations that have nuclear capabilities or are working on them with the expressed intent to use them on us and our allies. Just because we were and still are a hegemony does not mean that we need to fuck around with international politics. I actually see it as a positive that China is beginning to rise is power as this may help to balance out the U.S. or maybe we will fall like Rome, either way we are in for a rude awakening on the international scene rather soon. Sorry that last bit was a bit of an off-topic point, but still at least sort of tangential in my mind at least.

Anyway, so without this one stupid mistake by Bush and his administration, the world and the U.S. would be a very different place six years later. I guess the saying is right, "A butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon can cause a tsunami in Asia."