President Bush declines an invitation from Barack Obama to appear at Ground Zero tomorrow

  In addition to authorizing the Navy SEAL strike which killed Osama bin Laden I think that Barack Obama did two other things right, and which I applaud. The first is the fact that he called President Bush to personally tell him bin Laden was dead before he announced it to the world. I felt that this showed a certain level of respect to the man who promised to bring bin Laden to justice; a level of respect that was sorely lacking from his campaign. And he extended an invitation to the former president to appear at Ground Zero tomorrow.

  Sadly President Bush for undisclosed reasons has declined this invitation. What a great sight it would have been to see President Bush return to the site of the deadliest attack on American soil nearly ten years after his vow that the people who brought down the towers would soon hear from the United States of America to take part in ceremonies now that Osama bin Laden has been brought to justice. For while bin Laden might have been killed on Barack Obama’s watch–and while Barack Obama deserves credit–it cannot be forgotten that it was policies put in place after September 11th that led to the killing of bin Laden. From the “black sites” in Europe, to GITMO, to waterboarding–all policies that Barack Obama promised to end–the role George Bush played in the killing of bin Laden should not be forgotten.

  While President Bush personally was never able to fulfil his promise to the American people, we know that he put the system in place which helped to bring the world’s most wanted terrorist down and I think that he should have taken the time to bask in the glory and adulation of the families who lost loved ones on September 11th.

  Perhaps he thought he would be out of place, or perhaps he didn’t want to interfere in Barack Obama’s moment, we may never know the reason for this decision, but I feel as if he deserves to be there and I am disappointed that he decided to decline Barack Obama’s offer. I will never forget him standing on that pile of rubble, megaphone in hand, vowing to bring the terrorists to justice, and showing us what true leadership is. President Bush should be there tomorrow, not in an attempt to upstage Barack Obama, but because he deserves some of the credit for bringing down Osama bin Laden.