Exit George W. Bush
Published in Dagsavisen
(Norway) on 14 January 2009
by Erik Sagflaat (link to original)
(Norway) on 14 January 2009
by Erik Sagflaat (link to original)
Translated from
by Lars Erik Schou.
Edited by Cara Brumfield.
"We've had a lot of fun," Bush said at his last press conference, where he hardly admitted any mistakes of significance, just a few disappointments. The need for change was underlined once again.
The handling of the Gaza war will hopefully be the last international crisis George W. Bush will get to mismanage, after all he only has six days left as president. By giving Israel a free hand, no matter what the country has done, Bush has forfeited the opportunity to find necessary solutions and compromises. The Israeli leadership has dictated the Bush Administration's policy. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sheds interesting light on how this has happened.
Olmert says that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was embarrassed of having to abstain from voting over the UN-resolution that demands an end to the war. She had spent three days in the security council herself and had put her touch on the text. But Israel was dissatisfied because they felt that the nation's security needs were not met. “Get me Bush," Olmert ordered. Bush was holding a speech in Philadelphia, but was brought down from the podium to receive his instructions from Olmert.
Soon after, Condoleezza Rice was told by Bush to abstain from voting on her own resolution. If Olmert's version of this is true, it speaks volumes about why America has lost all its influence in the Middle East. There is a desperate need for Barack Obama to take new steps from day one. A spokesman from the White House rejects Olmert's version and says to AP that abstaining was the plan from the start. Word against word, Rice herself refuses to comment on her talk with Bush, but says that the decision made was the right one. That last part is doubtful. The resolution she helped draft would have had much more weight behind it if the U.S. had voted for it.
At his last press conference, Bush was asked about mistakes he has made. Bush mentioned that it was a PR-mistake to speak in front of the “Mission Accomplished” banner one month after the war in Iraq started. But he bluntly rejected the idea that the invasion was a mistake. The fact that weapons of mass destruction were not found, the reason for going to war in the first place, he called a disappointment. The mistreatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib was also just a disappointment. "I do not know if these can be called mistakes, let me say that it didn't go according to plan," Bush said.
The relationship with America's European allies has not been going according to plan either. Here Bush can not hide his bitterness, especially towards the countries who would not support his war on Iraq. "In certain parts of Europe you can become popular by blaming every Middle Eastern problem on Israel," Bush said. "I assume I could've been popular by ratifying the Kyoto treaty as well. It's easy to be popular in Europe, but I preferred to do it right!"
Bush leaves office with a record low approval rating. Only 23 percent think he has done a good job. He now hopes that history will judge him milder than the time he lives in. But his hope must wait, because it will take a long time to repair the misery he leaves behind. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are far from over. The prison camp at Guantanamo must be closed in an orderly fashion, it can not close over night. The recession after the financial crisis is largely created by the Bush Administration's loose, uncontrolled economic policy, and it will take a long time to recover.
George W. Bush is heading home to Texas. He promises not to say much. But if he opens his mouth again, it will probably be to put all the responsibility for his leftover, hopelessly dirty dishes in the dish washer. Because in HIS time things were so much better!
The handling of the Gaza war will hopefully be the last international crisis George W. Bush will get to mismanage, after all he only has six days left as president. By giving Israel a free hand, no matter what the country has done, Bush has forfeited the opportunity to find necessary solutions and compromises. The Israeli leadership has dictated the Bush Administration's policy. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sheds interesting light on how this has happened.
Olmert says that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was embarrassed of having to abstain from voting over the UN-resolution that demands an end to the war. She had spent three days in the security council herself and had put her touch on the text. But Israel was dissatisfied because they felt that the nation's security needs were not met. “Get me Bush," Olmert ordered. Bush was holding a speech in Philadelphia, but was brought down from the podium to receive his instructions from Olmert.
Soon after, Condoleezza Rice was told by Bush to abstain from voting on her own resolution. If Olmert's version of this is true, it speaks volumes about why America has lost all its influence in the Middle East. There is a desperate need for Barack Obama to take new steps from day one. A spokesman from the White House rejects Olmert's version and says to AP that abstaining was the plan from the start. Word against word, Rice herself refuses to comment on her talk with Bush, but says that the decision made was the right one. That last part is doubtful. The resolution she helped draft would have had much more weight behind it if the U.S. had voted for it.
At his last press conference, Bush was asked about mistakes he has made. Bush mentioned that it was a PR-mistake to speak in front of the “Mission Accomplished” banner one month after the war in Iraq started. But he bluntly rejected the idea that the invasion was a mistake. The fact that weapons of mass destruction were not found, the reason for going to war in the first place, he called a disappointment. The mistreatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib was also just a disappointment. "I do not know if these can be called mistakes, let me say that it didn't go according to plan," Bush said.
The relationship with America's European allies has not been going according to plan either. Here Bush can not hide his bitterness, especially towards the countries who would not support his war on Iraq. "In certain parts of Europe you can become popular by blaming every Middle Eastern problem on Israel," Bush said. "I assume I could've been popular by ratifying the Kyoto treaty as well. It's easy to be popular in Europe, but I preferred to do it right!"
Bush leaves office with a record low approval rating. Only 23 percent think he has done a good job. He now hopes that history will judge him milder than the time he lives in. But his hope must wait, because it will take a long time to repair the misery he leaves behind. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are far from over. The prison camp at Guantanamo must be closed in an orderly fashion, it can not close over night. The recession after the financial crisis is largely created by the Bush Administration's loose, uncontrolled economic policy, and it will take a long time to recover.
George W. Bush is heading home to Texas. He promises not to say much. But if he opens his mouth again, it will probably be to put all the responsibility for his leftover, hopelessly dirty dishes in the dish washer. Because in HIS time things were so much better!
First this is not a recession this is a decline of a nation. We are causing a recession around the world because we are buying less stuff.
I have been watching my country decline for several decades. It is sad to do so but then they did not call me for advice.
Politicians are not about to tell Americans about our decline or they will not get elected. They sell hope instead. It plays better in Peoria as Nixon would say.
Second a republic deserves its leaders. Bush is about the American mentality of greed and arrogance and consumerism. And jack you are on your own. Few Americans understand the term social democracy. You are either a communist or a capitalist and to most Americans socialism even social democracy is communism. Talk to the average American on the street then you will understand what Churchill meant when he stated how concerned he was about democracy.
Few Americans understand the need for economic controls. Americans think gov is the problem. Reagan is still treated as some kind of god in America. Look when the huge debts started in America. I.e. Reagan’s term.
Some on here have accused me of hating America. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Any idea what it is like to watch your country decline and start wars for profits and have a privatized health care system that costs twice as much and leaves out 47 million people and the suffering we caused in Vietnam and Iraq with our wars for profits. Think about it before you accuse me of hating America.
Ask the typical American if they are concerned about the suffering we caused in Vietnam and Iraq. You wont like their answers. They care about Americans not the Vietnamese or Iraqis. In our southern states people raise their children to fight in our wars for profits and proud to do so. They are convinced their freedom depends on it. Years of conditioning by the industrial military complex have created an imperialistic nation. This industrial military complex is so smart and big they now control the mass media in America.
Thank you.
I certainly agree with ‘researcher’! The arrogance and ‘gunboat diplomacy’ practiced by the Bush administration was an embarrassment that will take time to correct, along with our complete disregard for international law and human rights!