Bush
Bush and Iraq
By Daniel G. Jennings
It's obvious that President George W. Bush is a very brave and patriotic man but not necessarily a very politically astute individual. Bush is obviously doing the right thing in Iraq, but he certainly erred in using weapons of mass destruction as a pretext for the war.
There were several valid reasons for America to attack and occupy Iraq; protecting the world's oil supply, preventing future terrorism and stabilizing the Middle East among them. Reasons that the American people would have understood and perhaps supported. Unfortunately, Bush chose the cheap and melodramatic image, weapons of mass destruction. The one that would attract the most media attention and appeal deepest to emotions.
Weapons of mass destruction was the cheapest way out it got Bush the media attention and popular support he needed to wage the war. Unfortunately for Bush and the country, the weapons of mass destruction appear to be a fantasy and the intelligence reports Bush cited false or inaccurate. To make matters worse, Bush and some of his advisors appear to have lied to have exaggerated the threat in order to advance their cause.
By choosing the moral low road, and resorting to lies, cheap hysteria and fearmongering Bush made a terrible mistake for which he is going to pay in spades. Democrats and others will be able to brand Bush a liar and manufacture an artificial scandal to attack him.
Some leftists are already talking about this being a second Watergate, but a repeat of the Iran-Contra Scandal would be a better comparison. Nixon's actions in Watergate were motivated purely by personal fears and ambitions, his targets were his political enemies. Bush's actions appear to have motivated by a concern for the nation and the world's future. He acted to put America in a better position to deal with the world's challenges and secure a just peace for the Middle East.
My guess is that any attempt to impeach or smear Bush using these allegations will backfire on the Democrats. The public will see Bush as the victim of a political witch hunt, just like Clinton was. Average people will see Bush as a patriot who tried to defend the country and is being destroyed by a gang of vicious politicians. The public will rally around Bush, who will be reelected by a large margin and those who attacked him will slink away into obscurity.
Future historians will also be on Bush's side. Other presidents have done much what Bush did in past situations. During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt greatly exaggerated the threat that Nazi Germany posed to the United States. FDR and his advisors made ludicrous claims stating that the Nazis were seeking bases in Latin America to attack the United States. Or raising fears that German secret agents would commit terrorist atrocities on American soil, another fantasy. Although the Nazis were certainly evil and possessed a powerful military, they lacked the technology and naval forces needed to pose a direct threat to the US in World War II. Yet FDR, made them the primary enemy and concentrated America's forces against Germany. History has recorded that FDR did the right thing, by making German defeat his priority in World War II, FDR prevented the triumph of an evil and technologically advanced dictatorship that would have murdered untold millions and enslaved much of the world for generations.
During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson went even farther claiming that Imperial Germany was planning to invade the United States through Mexico. This pretext was ludicrous the Imperial German Navy couldn't even cross the English Channel and attack England. Yet Wilson used it as a pretext to ship hundreds of thousands of American troops to France to fight Germany in 1917 and 1918. An action that most historians now believe to have been the right course of action.
President Bush's actions were probably the right ones and he will certainly be validated by history. (Like Wilson and Roosevelt) Unfortunately, Bush will probably have to survive one of the most vicious and destructive political witch hunts in American history to live to see that validation.