Steve Benen takes a sledgehammer to the Right’s “Bush kept us safe” arguments:

A TWIST OF THE ‘KEPT US SAFE’ ARGUMENT…. As the Bush/Cheney administration was poised to end, and there were an abundance of pieces reflecting on the Bush era, the most common defense tended to be that Bush “kept us safe.” I’ve never understood this argument.

Indeed, it’s generally offered with a series of pretty important caveats. Except for the catastrophic events of 9/11, and the anthrax attacks, and terrorist attacks against U.S. allies, and the terrorist attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Bush’s inability to capture those responsible for 9/11, and waging an unnecessary war that inspired more terrorists, and the success terrorists had in exploiting Bush’s international unpopularity, the former president’s record on counter-terrorism was awesome.