From Kennedy to Obama… America’s Presidents Admit their Mistakes

With sad gazes and expressions of sorrow, they come out to admit their past mistakes. They express their regret, thinking that they will appear courageous and that Americans will respect them… But the truth is that they are compelled to do so only when they discover that everyone recognizes the disasters they have caused, which they call “mistakes.” After the people inundate them with blame and criticism, presidents find themselves at an impasse and confess. These are the presidents of the United States of America, who are described in the magazine “American Thinkers” as liars. What better way to characterize them than Jean-Paul Sartre’s saying, “They think that they fool others, but they only fool themselves.”

Obama… And Confessions on Libya

American President Barack Obama has been given many nicknames as a result of his many repeated lies. Among those names is “21st-century Pinocchio,” which was given to him by several journalists and websites, foremost The Washington Post, which claimed that each time his lies expand, so does his nose. The American writer Jack Cashill even published a book entitled, “You Lie!” In it, he describes Obama as spreading lies since his arrival on the political scene. Despite all of that, Obama kept insisting on telling lies. The most recent instance was when he came out to display his regret and remorse toward the end of his presidency. He admitted that his biggest mistake was failing to establish a clear plan of action in the period following the military invasion in Libya, which witnessed the collapse of the NATO coalition and a quick departure without the formation of a new government after removing Moammar Gadhafi.

Bush… And the Mistake of Invading Iraq

Obama is not the first American president to admit to making mistakes. George Bush preceded him, and stated in one of his newspaper interviews in 2008 that he made a mistake by invading Iraq. He attributes this to mistaken strategic information that the Pentagon presented to him that reported the presence of nuclear weapons in Iraq before the invasion. The disaster, which Bush viewed merely as a mistake that he simply apologized for, resulted in more than 106,000 Iraqi victims in the period from 2003 to 2010, according to statistical records.

Clinton... The Rwandan Genocide and the Monica Scandal

As for the American President Bill Clinton, since the end of his second term he has acknowledged his responsibility for the Rwandan genocide, since he ignored warnings that he received before the genocide. The episode left more than 800,000 people dead in less than 100 days. This is besides the fact that Clinton ignored the crimes that the Tutsi rebels committed against civilians in the period from 1995 to 1998. On the other hand, following many months of denial, Clinton admitted to a relationship with his office secretary, Monica Lewinsky, and he also admitted that he had erred to all of those whom he misled with his lies, especially his wife Hillary.

Reagan... Scandal and Iran’s Weapons

The late president Ronald Reagan became the owner of the Iran Contra scandal in 1987. During Reagan’s second term, the American administration under his guidance sold weapons to Tehran through the intermediary of Israel in a secret deal. This was despite a previous decision that had banned the sale of arms to Iran and labeled it as an “enemy of America” and a sponsor of terrorism. Washington used the money from the deal to secretly fund the opposition forces countering the revolution in Nicaragua, known as the Contras. The Contras fought to overthrow the leftist government and the Sandinista Party that was governing Nicaragua, the largest country in Central America. After the publishing of a number of documents and investigations that confirmed the American administration’s concern over the issue, Reagan initially denied having knowledge of the operation. An investigative committee was formed to review the matter. The report did not definitively establish the degree of Reagan’s involvement, but it did criticize him for failing to properly supervise his national security team. When faced with that pressure, he admitted his mistakes and assumed full responsibility.

John F. Kennedy… And the Failed Invasion of Cuba

In 1961, the late President John F. Kennedy admitted his responsibility for the failed invasion of Cuba. After his predecessor, Eisenhower, spent millions of dollars planning an invasion of the Bay of Pigs in Cuba, Kennedy failed to pull it off. He relied on a report from the Central Intelligence Agency that contained false information that resulted in Americans learning a hard lesson at the hands of the Cubans under President Raul Castro. It did not take even three days for Cuba to hand Washington a terrible defeat. Kennedy faced fierce criticism that led him to publicly announce his mistake and to bear full responsibility. He said, “...victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan."