Aby The Liberal

Dmitri July 10th, 2007

When the US President George William Bush went to war against Iraq in 2003, he might have envisioned himself hailed as ‘The Great Leader’ who would go down in history as the man who rid the world of terrorism. Perhaps with the hope that the Iraqi people would welcome the American soldiers the same way the French did after World War 2; not understanding the ego of Arabs and their nationalism. He miscalculated and it cost him and America, a lot in terms of money, popularity and security. The war in Iraq turned to be the costliest in terms of money, America became one of the most disliked countries in the world and the world became much more unsafe for Americans to be in.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez calls US President Bush, the ‘devil’ in the UN General Assembly (2006)

The war against Iraq, in the name of Operation Iraqi Freedom hardly achieved its goals (apart from the dethroning and execution of Saddam Hussein) and has become a big burden on the American taxpayer’s money, which could rather have been utilised to pay off American foreign debts and improve the quality of US healthcare and public education. Since the war on Iraq began in 2003, over 3,654 American soldiers have lost their lives in combat and over $450 billion was spent by US on the war, according to the reports by Global Security and Le Monde. In addition to this, over 100,000 Iraqi civilians have lost their lives and the loss of property is estimated to be over $2.6 trillion. A few major scandals like rapes, murders along with other human rights crimes against civilians and journalists by US forces (some of them officially sanctioned) did not improve matters either, rather it earned the displeasure of moralists and realists alike. Neither did the situation in Iraq improve nor did the safety of Americans increase - Iraq became far worse than it was under Saddam’s rule and the world became even more unsafe for Americans.

Despite the loss of popularity over the Iraq War and an a lot of domestic setbacks in the United States, George Bush narrowly won the 2004 Presidential elections by 50.7% popular vote as against John Kerry’s 48.3% popular vote. Many critics blame the sudden appearance of Osama Bin Laden in a few news channels (and the panic) as responsible for Bush’s victory; while some others claimed conspiracy and vote manipulation in some areas. Whatever may or may not be the case, Bush was president once again and celebrated his victory by increasing troops in Iraq. However the situation hardly improved in Iraq, with a looming civil war and increased violence. The American people showed their displeasure at Bush’s deception and misplaced priorities by voting the Republican Party out of both the Senate and Congress in the 2006 United States House Elections and hence putting the Democrats to power. This was a major blow for Bush as he lost popular support and also the support of the Congress, who demanded troop withdrawal and fund reduction for losing US war against Iraq.

In the international arena, George Bush fell in popularity since 2001 because of the Iraq War and several other political developments. A five decade old good relationship with France was dampened in a matter of a few days when France refused to go with US on the illegal war against Iraq in 2003. Bush’s claims of Saddam Hussein possessing Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) fell on deaf ears due to the lack of any conclusive evidence, causing Russia, France and Germany to refuse any moral, financial or military support to the US. The warm relationship with Russia got into a rocky path after George Bush dissolved the 30 year old ABM treaty in 2001, leading to a US vs Russia tension and a hint of another Cold War. The relationship with Venezuela went downhill after Bush’s unrealistic branding of countries into good and evil - in a true style of religious fanatics. NATO is no longer effective as the European Union (EU) has taken its place and the EU is cool towards the Bush administration. Furthermore, the world military spending increased in 2006, at a 34% hike from the 10 year period between 1996-2005, signifying rising global tensions and paranoia of US activities. (Analysts put the United States as the primary reason for 80% of this global increase.)

The latest dilemma occurred when George Bush went into a limbo on the Iraq issue. The Iraqi government warned against a US troop pull-out due to fear of a civil war while the domestic US pressure is mounting to pull out the troops from Iraq. Bush now faces a downhill path and a critical juncture of his political career, much like Tony Blair did in UK for supporting Bush in the invasion of Iraq. Bush also faces dissent both within his own Republican Party and the Democrat opposition. Perhaps Mr. Bush should have realised that invading nations is hardly a winning strategy in the 21st century; so is an aggressive foreign policy against old friends like France or new friend potentials like Russia and China. With the mess he created in America and the world, George Bush will be lucky not to go down as the worst president in American history…

Dmitri

• World Politics , America
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