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An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same date of the year as the initial event, and for Americans September 11 holds very significant meanings. As the nation remembers the American lives lost at the hands of a terrorist gang, they should take stock of the damage an incompetent administration caused this country and consider their good fortune the current administration’s first reaction to events originating in the Middle East do not entail invasion, regime change, loss of life, and economic costs the nation can hardly afford to bear.

The events leading to the terror attacks on 9/11 were the first sign the Bush Administration was steeped in incompetence as Bush and company ignored sound intelligence reports in daily presidential briefings that al Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, intended to hijack commercial airliners and fly them into American buildings in the very near future. President Obama has been assailed by emoprogs for using weaponized drones to strike suspected terrorists based on sound intelligence briefings, and they should think about what if Bush acted on intelligence and took precautions to prevent the terror attacks in New York, Philadelphia, and the Pentagon. Intelligence agencies attempted to warn high level authorities that young Arab men were taking flying lessons with no regard for learning how to take off and land aircraft, and yet there were no further investigations or heightened security at the nation’s international airports to apprehend the men who learned to fly, hijacked, and piloted airliners into American buildings.

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After the carnage resulting from the administration’s incompetence, Bush promised to find those responsible and bring them to justice, and immediately launched a war against Afghanistan and allowed the terrorists responsible for 911 to escape. Instead of pursuing the terrorists to bring them to justice, the Bush warmongers began drawing up plans to invade Iraq. Doubtless, Bush’s warmongering contributed to the Syrian government’s buildup of chemical weapons in anticipation of an American assault after invading two other Middle East Muslim nations that were not responsible for the 911 terror attacks.

Bush’s warmongering and incompetence upset the balance of power in the region by elevating an Axis of Evil member, Iran, to a position of power when he took out the only force in the region (Sadam Hussein) who kept Iran in check. The same warmongers who supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan pressured President Obama to repeat Bush’s folly in Iraq by giving military assistance to Syrian rebel forces in their attempt to overthrow the legal Assad regime. However, President Obama is not George W. Bush and he resisted calls for American intervention citing the unknown goals and power behind the rebel movement that is as culpable for the 100,000 Syrian deaths as the Syrian government forces. In fact, it was reported yesterday that Syrian rebel forces may launch a chemical attack on Israel from government-controlled territories as a “major provocation” to draw America into their illegal civil war.

It turns out that the President was wise not to follow the course of action the incompetent Bush administration took after the terror attacks on 911, and his push for a diplomatic solution instead of shoot first and ask questions later is bearing fruit. It was suggested two days ago that the President likely knew seeking congressional approval for limited military action against Syria was doomed because of Republicans’ automatic rejection of anything he supported, and that it would be left to the international community to find a solution to Syria’s chemical weapon arsenal. The President took a great deal of heat for meeting with Russian President Putin and other leaders at the G20 summit to find a solution to Syria’s chemical weapons, and it was little surprise that Russia, with China’s support, offered Syria a way to avoid a military strike from the United States if they handed over their arsenal to international control for destruction. More significantly, Syria offered to join 189 other world governments and sign the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty mandating destruction of chemical weapons and banning their use. Where a Bush administration would have launched an invasion into Syria a year ago, President Obama’s patience and diplomacy-first approach is providing a settlement that benefits the region and keeps America out of another war.

It appears the Obama Administration has sought a diplomatic solution to Syria’s alleged chemical weapons use long before the chemical attack on Damascus on August 21. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that Syria could avoid a limited strike if they turned their chemical weapons over to the international community, and according to the White House and the President’s history of seeking diplomatic solutions instead of war it is certainly true. The President delayed seeking congressional approval for a military option in Syria, but left it on the table as an incentive for Syria to follow through with their commitment to Russia to turn over their chemical arsenal to the international community that has been the President’s goal all along.

Republicans have made it their yearly slogan to never forget 911, and although they are pandering to the patriotic bent among conservatives, it is a valid sentiment today. Americans must not forget that an incompetent administration ignored clear warnings the country was going to be attacked, and then used their own failings to lead the nation into two unnecessary and costly wars. Not only did Bush’s cowboy diplomacy cost the nation in lives and resources, it helped Iran rise to a regional power and elicited Muslim hatred toward America and served as a recruiting tool for Islamist extremists. President Obama would not have, and has not, made the same blunders as Bush and the Syrian episode reveals that exercising restraint and seeking diplomatic solutions will pay dividends America and the Middle East will benefit from.

Americans should give pause and commemorate the lives and sacrifices of those who perished in the 911 attacks, and particularly the brave men and women of the Armed Services who dutifully followed an incompetent commander in chief’s unnecessary warmongering. Most Americans will remember and reflect on September 11 as a depressingly sad day due to the terror attacks on American soil, but for music-lovers it is the date in 1963 when four kids from Liverpool recorded their first record at EMI (Abbey Road) Studios. Like everything, how one commemorates September 11 is all a matter of perspective.