Bush, Part Two

As I said in "Bush, Part One", I feel that there are two underlying reasons that President George W. Bush insisted on going to war with Iraq that, if not officially acknowledged, are an open secret nonetheless.

1. Oil. Certainly a concern to two former oilmen like Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney. After all, they've got their post-government careers to think about.

2. Family honor. George W. Bush admitted as much that he did not appreciate his father George H. W. Bush’s life being threatened by Saddam during the first Gulf War.

Even if one doesn’t believe those two “conspiracy theories”, one should admit that the war in Iraq has not brought us closer to peace but instead has left not only our national security vulnerable but our international support and standing as well. A different “axis” of sorts – China, Russia and Venezuela - has been emboldened to criticize and bypass us. (While the current recession has freefall has especially hurt oil-powered Caracas and Moscow, all three countries will continue to be a cause for concern as the world economy recovers.) Billions of dollars that could have been used to stanch our financial crisis – let alone nullify bin Laden and Al Qaeda - is instead being poured into a country whose citizens never attacked us.

“But now that we are in Iraq, we need to finish the job!”

Fair enough; we should stay in Iraq long enough for their government to reach a certain level of stability and security, although what defines those benchmarks is certainly up for debate. But can we at least acknowledge that it was a mistake to be there in the first place?

It’s okay to be a Republican or a conservative in general and admit that going to Iraq was wrong.

It’s okay to support Bush’s domestic policies and admit that going to Iraq was wrong.

One can be patriotic by supporting the troops accomplishing their missions while conceding that their sacrifice would have held even more resonance if they were in Afghanistan and Pakistan instead of Iraq.

When I originally wrote this a couple months ago, I felt that Bush, would never admit that he made even in his most private moments, let alone publicly, that his motivations for going to Iraq were either different than what he presented to the public or just plain faulty. Shockingly, he did concede to some degree the latter as noted in the press conference referenced above. Time will tell if President-Elect Barack Obama, whom as Senator was one of the relative few who voted against going to Iraq, will diplomatically albeit more directly acknowledge some sort of regret on behalf of the United States after he takes office.

Most conservatives are probably not fond of the catchphrase: “No one died when Clinton lied.” Nonetheless, despite the Gulf War success that the most fervent Bush supporters see, the Iraq War will be as defining a moment of his presidency as Bill Clinton’s ill-advised affair with Monica Lewinsky. Each situation repulsed a significant amount of citizens while somehow galvanizing their respective political bases.