George W. Bush in the Future: Honored Liberator
We’ll see how history treats President George W. Bush. Nile Gardiner thinks time will do well for him:
Much of the condemnation of his policies though is driven by a venomous hatred of Bush’s personality and leadership style, rather than an objective assessment of his achievements. Ten or twenty years from now, historians will view Bush’s actions on the world stage in a more favourable light. America’s 43rd president did after all directly liberate more people (over 60 million) from tyranny than any leader since Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Widely seen as his biggest foreign policy error, the decision to invade Iraq could ultimately prove to have been a masterstroke. Today the world is witnessing the birth of the first truly democratic state in the Middle East outside of Israel. Over eight million voted in Iraq’s parliamentary elections in 2005, and the region’s first free Muslim society may become a reality. Iraq might not be Turkey, but it is a powerful demonstration that freedom can flourish in the embers of the most brutal and barbaric of dictatorships.
The success of the surge in Iraq will go down in history as a turning point in the war against al-Qaeda. The stunning defeat of the insurgency was a major blow both militarily and psychologically for the terror network. The West’s most feared enemy suffered thousands of losses in Iraq, including many of their most senior commanders, such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Abu Qaswarah. It was the most successful counter-insurgency operation anywhere in the world since the British victory in Malaya in 1960.
The broader war against Islamist terrorism has also been a success. There has not been a single terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, and for all the global condemnation of pre-emptive strikes, Guantanamo and the use of rendition against terror suspects, the fact remains that Bush’s aggressive strategy actually worked.
Significantly, there have been no successful terrorist attacks in Europe since the July 2005 London bombings, in large part due to the cooperation between U.S., British and other Western intelligence agencies. American intelligence has proved vital in helping prevent an array of planned terror attacks in the UK, a striking demonstration of the value to Britain of its close ties to Washington.
Like the economic situation President-elect Obama is facing there aren’t a lot of good answers. But while Bush stumbled at times he remained focused on the goal: keeping America safe. For that he deserves much credit.
“George W Bush: Winning the War on Terror” [via memeorandum]
But while Bush stumbled at times he remained focused on the goal: keeping America safe. For that he deserves much credit.
By invading a country unjustly and unnecessarily? Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and was not a threat to us. All Bush did is let the real culprits get away while pissing away hundreds of billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives. And that is not counting the effects of his economic policies yet.
Don’t do drugs and blog, boyo.