President Bush's principal argument for re-election is his war on terrorism, but in fact that's one of the principal reasons he should not be re-elected.

Leading up to 9/11, Bush downgraded his terrorism czar to a sub-cabinet level position and ignored intelligence reports with titles such as "bin Laden Determined To Attack Inside United States." After 9/11, he didn't go in for the kill at Tora Bora, allowing Osama bin Laden to escape.

Then Bush pursued a war with a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, diverting valuable personnel and resources away from the war on terrorism and bin Laden and — as his father's own national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft, said it would in his Aug. 15, 2002 Wall Street Journal piece entitled "Don't Attack Saddam" — inflaming the Muslin world, creating thousands of new terrorists.

Bush' disdain for other nations' views — both before and after 9/11 — has made it more difficult to get international support in our war on terror. Let's not forget that he opposed the creation of a Homeland Security department for nine months, and opposed creation of the 9/11 commission.

Simply saying that Bush "misled" us into war in Iraq — while true — does not connect the dots on why that undermines our war on terrorism. He has botched things up every step of the way, making our nation less safe.

Stosine is a resident of Iowa City, Iowa.

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