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Look back at Bush's legacy
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Posted January 14, 2009
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President Bush's Legacy - What Will It Be?
Over the years, my interest in politics has never been too enthusiastic, based on the fact that I view all politicians as being primarily out for self and with their "special interest" projects, out for friends. Politians have a tendency to smile in your face for the votes they need and then when they get into office, everything changes. Watching them, I feel slimy, and I feel the need to cleanse myself continuously. For this reason, I did not really even tune into George Bush and what he was doing in office until he was re-elected with the shadiness of a politician and the Florida incident, by way of the vote. Since I have tuned into him, he has been a disaster. From losing focus in Afghanistan to his attack on Iraq, to his failure to capture Osama bin Laden, to his handling of the damages and lives touched by Hurricane Katrina, Bush has been a disaster. From his underestimating the cost, in lives and money, of the Iraq war, which has been a cause in, severely affecting the American economy, to the arresting of, sometimes, innocent people, perceived to be terrorist and the torture and humiliation of those same people, Bush has been a disaster. That disaster culminated in the final insult, when the shoe thrower launched not one but both of his shoes at President Bush in a fit of pure disgust for the man that Bush is, yet, when I see George Bush standing before an audience, at a press conference, and laughing at himself, for some reason, I can't view him as a total wash as a human being. What really motivated Bush. Was 9/11 so traumatic for him that he was blinded by his rage and felt he had to act to make the world a better place, on any level he could and for him, taking out Suddam Heussiem would at least accomplish the destruction of one of the problems in the world? In his rage did he lose sight of what was real, erasing forethought, planning to, instead focus heavily on revenge. Will his actions have a permanent negative impact, on the lives of the American people, or in time, will we all say that some of Bush's actions lead us to where we are - in three to five years -because even in the negative can we sometimes find a positive. Will Iraqi's see us through different eyes in time, thankful for the intervention which happened, in the fall of Suddam Heussien? If 9/11 had not happened, would Bush's path have taken another direction? Can you truely blame him, for being in charge when one of the worst US tragedies took place, perpetrated by a group of people intent on creating constant chaos in the world? 9/11 affected many people in many different ways and because it happened on his watch, Bush, inside himself, had to do something. Never mind that he ended up lying to the American people in an effort to justify his attacks by insisting that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction - but what if Saddam Hussien had those weapons - would that have made the attack on Iraq ok, in our eyes? I am afraid that as of this day, Bush's legacy does not look good but time will tell how it will be written. I say he focused too much energy into revenge and making America, in his eyes, safe. Can you really fault him for that? He did what he felt was best for the protection of the people who had just voted him into office as the commander in chief. He took his job a little to seriously but he felt it necessary in the face of the destruction of 9/11. Looking back is a funny thing, only because when looking back you have the advantage of seeing how things worked out, however, when things are just a plan, you never know how that plan will turn out. Even with research, things do not always turn out like you expect them to - think of all the people who had invested in sure things like retiring from a job that they had put years into or investing in retirement plans, that have been affected by the recent market downturn. You truly can only say a plan is good when, it just so happens to work out, otherwise all you can say is "it looked good on paper". Yes, I am glad George Bush is leaving office but I can not help but feel that despite the lack of forethought and planning, he did what he thought was best at the time and that decision was based on what was happening then. Bush's Legacy Losing focus on Afghanistan - Bordered by Pakistan and the Kashmir mountains; said to be the hiding place of Osama bin Laden yet, the focus was taken off of that area and focused on Iraq after 9/11 in a misdirected attempt to strike out at someone for all the lives taken during 9/11. Now the war in Afghanistan is raging even as Iraq is supposedly "calming". The State Of the Economy - Stock market crashes, bank and auto bailouts, unemployment gone wild, home foreclosures, even people with a solid job are wondering how long they will have their jobs based on the unstableness of the economy. The whole Katrina incident - Acknowledging the "heck of a job" FEMA director was doing to alleviate the misery of the Katrina victims when in fact the job was not being taken care of in a timely manner, causing the prolonged suffering of the people touched by Katrina and the floods that followed. The body armour for US Troops - happened on his watch but under the directions of someone else yet, he is on some level accountable for the deaths and injuries caused by this lack of forethought and planning. The whole Iraq war including his underestimating the totals costs of the war - in lives and in money. Failing to capture Osama bin Laden - Today, bin Laden ordered a jihad. If the focus would have stayed on Afghanistan and the area which was known for hiding bin Laden maybe he would not be in a position to stir the pot boiling that is the invasion of Gaza by Israel. His replacement of Saddam Hussein for bin Laden - In his quest for revenge, in part for 9/11, but by his inability to get to bin Laden, Bush chose to turn that rage on Saddam Hussein and to bring him down by "whatever means necessary". Creating six years of ill thought through war in Iraq. His proclamation, a little too soon that America was victorious in the Iraqi way - yet we stayed and fought for years after that proclamation. It seems like I heard that he was notified of a possible strike by Bin Laden on American soil prior to 9/11 - how seriously did he take that threat? Will that be forever a point of contention in his own mind when reviewing his term in office? As a result, he jumped into the Iraqi war with no thought of an exit plan just a need not to be defeated. Under his watch but directed by someone else, Bush allowed for the torture by re-interpretation of the Geneva Convention which opened up the doors for waterboarding, attack dogs religious disrespect, of the prisoners of Guantanamo Bay. Lied about Weapons of Mass Destruction. Bush is just a man, a man who was blinded by rage and a feeling that he had lost control by the tragedy that occurred on 9/11. As a result of this violence, Bush lost sight of everything, in an irrational attempt to make the world a safer place. What would you have done differently? Can these things be fixed? Only time will tell and in that time, will Iraq, one day recognize that a justice was done for the people there? And that's the way I see it!! For another look at the world we live in visit my blog at: http://anotherlook.today.com
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