IRVINE, CA--A year ago, President Bush, standing before Congress and the American people, pledged to eradicate the terrorist threat against the United States. But, said Alex Epstein, a writer for the Ayn Rand Institute, Bush has failed to enact what later became known as the Bush Doctrine: the policy of waging an uncompromising war against terrorists and their state sponsors.
      Bush promised: "I will not yield, I will not rest, I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people." But Bush has relented repeatedly. "In Afghanistan," Epstein noted, "Bush's failure to commit large numbers of American ground troops and to effectively seal the country's borders, along with his reluctance to bomb key targets for fear of inflicting civilian casualties, allowed thousands of terrorists to escape. Even worse, Bush has yet to take substantive military action beyond Afghanistan."
      "Bush also promised that 'any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.' But he has not treated the nations who create the terrorist threat as hostile. Bush has issued no ultimatums and taken no military action against Iran, which, according to his own State Department is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism. He rewarded the Palestinian Authority's escalation of terrorism against Israel with a promise to create a Palestinian State. He did not oppose the U.N.'s election of Syria, a major sponsor of terrorism, to its 'Security Council.' And in addition to taking no action against Saudi Arabia--a country that, as an expert recently told the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, is 'active at every level of the terror chain'--Bush has invited its top officials to his Texas ranch, heralding America's 'eternal friendship' with the Saudis."
      "On the anniversary of Bush's most important speech," Epstein concluded, "we should demand that he resurrect the Bush Doctrine by uncompromisingly prosecuting state sponsors of terrorism. Nothing less will save America. And, as the President himself has said, 'time is not on our side.'"

ARI executive director Yaron Brook is available for interviews on this topic.