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Bush Legacy: Vindication or Blunders?

Rashidul Bari - 6/8/2008

Many political pundits started writing books assessing President George Bush success and failures. He is leaving White House in seven months. How much he could do in these time period? Could he fix the damage he made over the past seven years? Could he leave Iraq before he leaves White House? Harry Truman, the 33rd President of the United States, gave a permission to drop Atomic Bombs on Japan—which killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki. However, Truman still regarded as one of the greatest presidents of United States. Will Bush eventually receive a Truman-like vindication? He would, if he ends the U.S occupation in Iraq by end of his term. “All well that ends well” writes Shakespeare in First Folio.


Is Bush a true man of God?

A man with God is always stronger than atheist. We know that President George W. Bush is a man of God. “A few of his predecessors have been as openly religious as him” said Jerald Posman, the Vice President of York College. President Bush is also the leader of the free world. Theoretically he is the strongest person in the world. However, that has never been the case in reality. Many of his biggest adversaries, international figures, even his closest associates have been lashing out at him and his administration such as Barack Obama, Muhammad Yunus and many more. Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan is the most recent one of that long list. In fact, his one time friend McClellan appeared like Muhammad Ali! Why the most powerful leader in the world became everyone’s punching bag? This is a big question.


McClellan claims in his new book that his former boss misled him concerning the CIA leak case.

Public Affairs, (same publisher published Muhammad Yunus’ two best sellers: Banker to the poor, and Creating a World without Poverty) the publisher of McClellan’s “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and What’s Wrong with Washington” — released the book on 28 May. McClellan writes, “I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice President, the President's chief of staff, and the President himself.” Like McClellan, many Americans believed that the President purposely lied about his reasons for invading Iraq. People believe that Mr. Bush likes to govern rather than making the best choices. Why people like McClellan harshly criticized the president? This is the big question.


Digging the Truth:

Everything goes back to the roots of the problem—the September 11, 2001. It was the day when the followers of Osama Bin Laden hijacked airplanes hoping that they could destroy the United Sates by hitting few buildings! Although Quran condemns killing innocents, nevertheless these terrorists destroyed American buildings in the name of Islam! Having done so, they not only killed 5000 innocents, but also slay the image of Islam. Millions of Muslims became victims because of that single terrorist act. As a result, every single Muslim has been treated as a potential terrorist by Bush’s Administration since 9/11. He also invaded Afghanistan and Iraq to hunt bin Laden. However, millions of innocents lost their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq but Laden still enjoys freedom to video-tape his voice threatening both: secular Muslims and Christians alike.


Solving the problem:

One cannot destroy terrorist nor can bring peace through war. We must need to address the basic issue of terrorism and solve it in a human way, address those issues and solve them one by one, piece by piece. “It could be done” said Yunus, “If there’s a frustrations among Muslim people for something—either it’s an economic frustrations or it’s a political frustrations or some sense of deprivation that we are not being listened to, terrorism will be good breeding ground for terrorism.” This is why war cannot stop terrorism. It only put the terrorism underground for awhile. It will come back in a more frightening way. So instead of trying to conquer it through war, we need to sit down together(all monotheistic and non-monotheistic believers)on the table of brotherhood to discuss the issues and solve them in a peaceful way—the way Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King taught us follow.
These two wars (where Bush spent $3 trillion) bring us nothing but more blood, the blood of innocent people including women and children! Jesus taught us not to kill, “…do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the left one. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you”. However, Bush violates Jesus’ words by invading Iraq. “Thus, man like McClellan gets upset on Bush and writes book (Just like Micaville’s The Prince) to proffers advice to the President who once empowered him.” Said Posman. According to Machiavelli, the greatest moral good is actions to protect the country from enemy, no matter how cruel, are always justified. Therefore his book The Prince is often respected as wise methods that a President can use to acquire, establish and protect his reign. However, McClellan’s “What Happened” did not justify Bush’s action although the President invaded Iraq to protect the United States from terrorists. Who is right, Machiavelli or McClellan? McClellan, who turned 40 in February, writes in his book, “President Bush and his advisers confused the propaganda campaign with the high level of candor and honesty so fundamentally needed to build and then sustain public support during a time of Iraq war. In this regard, he was terribly ill-served by his top advisers, especially those involved directly in national security.” Because the Iraq war was not to protecting America from terrorist, it was not the just war. It was nothing but a war of revenge!


War of Revenge:

To the question, “Why you invaded Iraq?” President Bush should be forgiven for answering, “…because of anger…the murder of 5,000 innocents made me mad…”! However, anger could be a part of many reasons, but what was the reason behind his unkind invasion? What drove him to take us to destroy Iraq, the home to the world’s first known civilization? If we brainstorm enough, we find an answer: Iraq is the 3rd most oil producing country in the world. (So, he did not invade Iraq to hunt Osama Bin Laden?)

Mr. Bush loves oil, so does his Vice President. The pair has a great deal of affection for oil since their Texas days. In fact, Dick Chaney used to be the President of Halliburton, one of the biggest oil exporters in the United States, while Mr. Bush was the Governor of the same state. So Iraq war was not for protecting homeland, but to ensure the continued flow of cheap oil from the Gulf? But oil was not the reason either! “Imposing democracy”—played the significant role in Bush’s Iraq invasion. What drove the godly ‘man of oil’ to became the ‘symbol of democracy’ (in the eyes of Karl Rove)?


Imposing Democracy:

“In God we Trust” is the official motto of the United States of America, and “imposing democracy” was Bush’s personnel motto in Iraq. In fact, Bush said to James Robinson in 2000: “I feel like God wants me to run for President. I can't explain it, but I sense my country is going to need me. Something is going to happen... I know it won't be easy on me or my family, but God wants me to do it.” Thus, in December 2000, a month after Al Gore won the popular vote, the Divine (Supreme) Court declared George W. Bush to be the 43rd President of the United States. Perhaps the highest court elected him because its nine divine angels believed that the man of Taxes was more God loving than the man from Tennessee to preserve the official motto, “In God we Trust”. As a custodian of the Constitution, these nine divine messengers had an obligation to choose the man of God. Thus, they elected him regardless the popular votes. (Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000). Upon becoming the President, the man of God has extended his motto “Imposing Democracy”. The most undemocratic president of the history of the United States—perceives a sound of democracy from the heaven to convert Middle Eastern governments from cruel regimes to democratically free governments. This is why many questioned his honesty on Iraq war and they ends up publishing books such as, “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and What’s Wrong with Washington”.


What Happened?

In 2003, the ‘man of God’ picked Iraq to experiment his motto without thinking about the serious consequences. In 2002, Obama opposed the Iraq war on Iraq and predict, “It would require a U.S occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.” The Senator was right. Today, six years after his prediction, Iraq stories are heartbreaking: more than half a million Iraqis were killed, millions became homeless, and millions became victims of the civil war. The sociopolitical structure was collapsed; banking system destroyed—economy was dying. As a result, Iraq became the hub of terrorism—and still Bush has no pain for it! “You can't spend $3 trillion on a failed war abroad and not feel the pain at home” writes Linda Bilmes in Washington Post.

America is the richest country in the world, but that does not mean we have to throw away trillions of dollars on ‘War on Terror’ because—as Muhammad Yunus said to Amy Goodman, “…terrorism cannot be won by the military action. Terrorism must be condemned in the strongest possible language. We must stand solidly against it and find all the means to end it. We must address the root cause of terrorism to end terrorism for all time to come. I believe that putting resources into improving the lives of the poor is a better strategy than spending it on guns.”


The better strategy:

Has Mr. Bush ever imagined what a difference this $3 trillion could make for millions of poor around the world? Yunus told me while I accompanied him a book tour, “Poor people are the ones who take challenges every day. The guy who sells a hot dog on the street is as much an entrepreneur as anyone else. Getting his $50 loan to start could be as difficult as finding $50 million for someone else. All people are entrepreneurs—all they need is $50 for a head-start.” President Bush should have discussed with Yunus (as his predecessor Clinton did) and he would have come out with a noble plan to provide $50 to each poor around the world. With that seed money, they could change their own lives and society in the long run. By doing so-- Mr. Bush could have won the hearts and minds of poor nations, but instead these nations have been wrapped up by anti-Americanism—because of his Iraq invasion! Therefore, people like McClellan gets so annoyed that he not only reigned from job, but also points his finger at the President!


Trillion Dollar War:

So far, Iraq war cost us more than three trillion Dollars! In a world with millions of poor and illiterate children, we could have achieved literacy for all -- for less than the price of a month’s war in Iraq! “We are concerned about China’s mounting influence over Africa, but the cost of a month of war in Iraq would double our yearly present aid expenditure in Africa. On the other hand, what we contribute in foreign aid to Latin America which is approximately $2.7 billion is what we spend in Iraq in a week. It is no surprise, which we’ve seen people like Hugo Chavez and countries like China move into the void because we've been neglectful of that.” said Barack Obama. “I will end this war if I am the President. We will not have a permanent occupation and permanent bases in Iraq” the Senator of Illinois said who opposed Iraq war since the day one. “Barack attitude to Iraq War is awesome. He is the only democrat I will vote for” said Posman. Obama gets prize for his wisdom, and Bush gets criticism for his lack of wisdom.


In the Name of Democracy:

The 20th century saw all kinds of experiments from few noted players of politics (Lenin, Zedong, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Hitler); including fascism, socialism, anarchism, monarchism, Marxism and theocracy - and all came undone. Out of the cruel struggle among these political ideas—(somehow) democracy came out well on top through the contribution of many men such as Washington, Lincoln, Jackson and it protected by many more including George Bush, the first leader of the 21st Century’s global village.(Clinton was the last leader of 20th Century). Bush loves democracy because he believes democratic country does not go to war with each other. Although he is right, nevertheless democracies have a dreadful habit of going to war against non-democratic country, often on the insubstantial excuse—just like the one Bush himself used in Iraq. His insubstantial excuse was to destroy Iraq’s weapon and mass distraction (WMD) and hunt Bin Laden. However, almost five years after Iraq invasion neither WMD nor Bin Laden were found! This is why many Americans such as Barack Obama or McClellan blame Bush (May be this is way Plato was against the democracy in Athens, his homeland).

However, some Republicans—still praise Mr. Bush for his accomplishment in Iraq. They claimed that Mr. Bush is the man of God who abolished the gunboat democracy in Iraq, but at what cost? By introducing the Gunpoint democracy? The consequences of the Gunpoint Democracy are dangerous: many Iraqi lost their loved-ones in the war. As a result, these people get terrified and see America as an occupier of their land rather than liberator as claimed by President Bush. Thus, they hate America—which eventually turns into anger which leads to shameful events such as burning of the American flag. No prudent men will be surprised if some of them end up being as terror as Saddam Husain, and as destructive as Osama Bin Laden. “This anger and hate move men to kill but also to die” writes Fareed Zakaria in his master piece, “Why they hate us”. Every initiative President Bush has undertaken such as keeping Lebanon out from Iran, Syrian sociopolitical control, creating democracy in Egypt, liberating Iraq, and secularizing Iran has made American enemies stronger, and allies weaker. Because of Bush’s eight year long failed foreign policy, the next president (Barack Obama!) will be faced with some unprecedented challenges.

Mr. Bush has a tendency to see the world in a still way. The evil are evil, the good are good, and recovery is unusual. Rather than see governments’ behavior on an energetic range, his liking was to put them into categories. Rather than accepting the Arab culture, values, and their way of life, he imposed the American values and the American way of life in the Middle East. Who will tell Bush that Democracy cannot be imposed from outside (top down); it should come from inside (bottom up).

The word democracy is made of two Greek words, demos (people) and kratos (strength or power)—which means “we the people” have the power to form the government and laws under which we shall live. In a democracy all men and women are created equal under the law—where majority rules. Ideally, a truly democratic government should provide its people (including minority) with the right to vote, good education, quality health care, affordable housing, a safe environment, equal opportunity for all, and fair taxes. Unfortunately, Bush does not seem to have that understanding of democracy. He has an anti-democratic philosophy of government—yet he tried to create a democratic Iraq through an unjust war! He has no respect for the will of majority (popular vote)—yet he tried to become the symbol of liberty!


Babysitting the Iraq war?

President Bush has been trying to impose ‘top down’ democracy in the Middle East through Iraq. However, he seemed to have forgotten that our democracy is not a ‘top down democracy’. He forgot that America was born through a “bottom up” revolution—not ‘Top down”. Therefore, imposing democracy in Iraq from ‘top down’ will do nothing but civil war.

Obama, whose early and eloquent speeches against the war in Iraq lifted the then-obscure Illinois legislator to statewide standing and paved the way for his march the Senate, “We cannot just waste our most precise recourse—our young men and women,” he told a crowd in Portsmouth “We're not going to baby sit a civil war.”

If we keep babysitting the Iraq war, it will soon become the hub of terrorism in the Middle East—which could produce hundreds of terrorists like Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein in the near future. Thus, we should get out of Iraq, and let them start democracy from ‘bottom up’. It could take a long time to stabilize democracy in Iraq from bottom up, but once it gets institutionalized, it will flow like the Tigris and the Euphrates.


Let it flow like the Tigris and the Euphrates:

We can make a peaceful Middle East, while building a more hopeful America. In the legacy of 43rd President’s (George Bush) Capital Hill, where the 16th President (Abraham Lincoln) once called on a house divided to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, in order to create a better world.

Jesus asked us to turn the other check in a respond to an aggressor, “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn him the left also” he said. However, as a ‘man of God’, Bush violates Jesus’ lesson by invading Iraq. This is why so many people such as Barack Obama, Muhammad Yunus and McClellan criticize the president rather than praise him for his policy. Therefore, Bush should lift his eyes as a true Christian, looking ahead to the next step—to meet with the Bibles’ requirements and to meet our generation’s historic responsibility to build a stronger and more perfect union—by withdrawing himself from Iraq by November 2008.

Nobody is perfect, so does Bush. Thus, everybody including Barack Obama, Muhammad Yunus, Scott McClellan and Jerald Posman like to believe that the 43rd president is big enough to admits his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them by withdrawing forces from Iraq. That should be the mission of the lame duck, and this is his moment.

Let’s look forward to perceive a happy ending for George W. Bush. A happy ending will polish up his blunders and eventually give him a Truman like vindication—because “all’s well that ends well”.