"Let me just first tell you that I've never been more convinced that the decisions I made are the right decisions" — George Bush addressing a few columnists in the White House on Tuesday. [Link]

The words "right decisions" sound ominous to my ears because unless someone helps Bush distinguish the right from wrong, his rhetoric indicates there would be more such "right decisions" .

Bush is convinced he made the right choices, but his conviction doesn't carry the weight it's supposed to. Here's a President who's so oblivious to the not-quite-so-right consequences of his "right decisions", methinks he's not even remotely aware of what really goes on beyond his manicured White House lawn. I know he's briefed everyday and I guess he hears what he wants to hear--otherwise how could he be so blind to the reality?

Here's a short list of the reality checks--Afghanistan is a mess, so is Iraq, and Osama is still out there, somewhere, recording his next video taped message — domestic security is still full of gaping holes, — and, mind if I tell you the cost of his last five years of right decisions? — thousands of American lives, hundreds of billions of dollars — and yes, there're also the small matters of molesting freedom, and civil liberties, the Constitution, and the international laws.

May be what he actually meant, was, it could have been worse had he not made the right decisions.

It could have been worse had he pursued the real terrorists when they fled to Tora Bora, Hell, it could have even led to the capture or death of Osama. But then what reason would people have to be scared anymore?

It's infinitely better to keep Osama on the loose — the politics of fear plays so well — and Karl Rove keeps his job.

It could have been worse had he left Saddam alone with his dreams of WMD. One never knows when dreams come true. Saddam could have also shed his secular skin and started having breakfast with Zawahiri and then we would all be in the soup.

It could have been worse, had he not "stayed the course". Critics will tell you Iraq had zero terrorist before we went there and Iraq had absolutely no connection to 9/11. But make no mistake, the Iraqis, always were potential terrorists. Who do you think we are now fighting on the streets of Baghdad?