Bushism – Initial Retrospection

Perhaps no other American politician has been as interesting a subject of ridicule and criticism as President George W. Bush. The two-term Republican President holds a record in low approval ratings (19%) (“George W. Bush”, Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia), which have to do with more than just his ineloquence and verbal gaffes. In the center of the circle of reasons for which Americans have come to disapprove of President Bush is his foreign policy which has resulted in over a million war casualties, has cost the economy $3 trillion (Trotta, 1) and has left the United States caught in the midst two of the longest wars in modern world history during its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Bush’s “War on Terror” started off as a response to the Sept 11 attacks and was seen as a security measure against the enemies of the United States. American soldiers were first sent to Afghanistan, which was thought to be the place where the Sept 11 Attacks were planned. Two years Bush diverted his attention to Saddam Hussein, the then Iraqi President; meanwhile the war in Afghanistan went on. The Bush administration eventually led an invasion of Iraq on suspicion that Saddam Hussein who was seen as a “danger to its neighbors, to the United States, to the Middle East and to the international peace and stability” (Rumsfeld). Thereafter, the term Bush Doctrine was coined, a policy used by the Bush administration to justify the Iraq War according to which the United States had the right to, as ABC News’ Charlie Gibson said, “anticipatory self-defense”(Gibson, 0 min 49 sec).

So much has been said and written against Bush’s “War on Terror”, particularly in the case of the Iraq war, that it makes one think how it was allowed to happen in the first place. Was it just lack of foresight that led the one of the world’s largest democracy to send its super-sized military half way across the globe only to realize later that they could have done it better? President Bush declared war on Iraq on March 19, 2003 (“2003 Invasion of Iraq” Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia). Less than a year later he was re-elected to the office of President of the United States by the American people. Today President Bush is blamed for being wrong about Iraq, when roughly 4 years ago most Americans apparently thought it was the right thing to do.

Since the end of World War II, almost every war has faced opposition by those who profess peace. The problem with Iraq War is not only that the (Bush) doctrine on which it was carried out, but also the fact that Iraq is an oil-rich nation and the United States is an oil-hungry one. Joe Biden, the democratic vice-presidential candidate, said in his debate against Sarah Palin, “John McCain said there would be enough oil to pay for (the Iraq War)” (Biden, 43 min 31 sec). The claim that the Iraq War was fought for oil is not unfounded. Nevertheless, the Bush administration still states that Iraq was invaded solely for security reasons. The truth in that statement is still to be proven.

CITATION LIST

“2003 Invasion of Iraq” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Invasion_of_Iraq>

Biden, Joe et al. “Full Vice-Presidential Debate with Gov. Palin and Sen. Biden.”C-Span. October 2 2008. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89FbCPzAsRA>

“George W. Bush” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush>

Gibson, Charlie et al. “Sarah Palin Holds Forth on Bush Doctrine, Pakistan.” TPMTV September 11 2008. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z75QSExE0jU>

Rumsfeld, Donald. United States Secretary of Defense. January 20, 2003.

Trotta, Daniel. “Iraq war hits U.S. economy: Nobel winner.” Reuters 2 March 2008. <http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2921527420080302?feedType= RSS&feedName=topNews&sp=true>

Nine One One

On this day 7 years ago, an act of hatred and religious extremism killed 2752 people in the world’s largest and arguably only superpower. It took less than two years for the victim country to fight back. Yet another act of hatred, and of patriotic extremism, killed over 1,000,000 people in the modern world’s longest and arguably stupidest war.

 

Every month, since whenever, my fellow Indians lose their lives to terrorism. Every other big attack seems to follow an unbelievably recent one while everyday shootings in the beautiful valley of Kashmir don’t even make headlines anymore. Tens of thousands of people in this multi-cultural land of Gandhi, have lost their lives for nothing. Yet I am proud my people haven’t and would never fight a “War on Terrorism”.

 

Is there a thing about war that justifies the orphans it leaves behind? What patriotism  renders life in own land more precious than death in another?

 

“Either war is obsolete or men are.” – Buckminster Fuller