George W. Bush may have a problem admitting mistakes (Meyer, 2004), but there’s plenty of evidence that he’s far from infallible (Dean, 2004; Ivins and Dubose, 2004; O’Farrell, 2003). In spite of that, I don’t think W should be criticized for refusing to admit that war in Iraq was a mistake, because it wasn’t. W—and especially Dick Cheney—developed a painstaking plan to plunder Iraq’s oil reserves (Clarke, 2004; Suskind, 2004a; Woodward, 2004).1 All things considered, they achieved their objectives masterfully (Connelly and Pilger, 2003; Corn, 2004).
The war in Iraq only looks like a mistake if you take W’s official justification for war seriously (Ritter, 2003; Suskind, 2004a). That is, W urged the world to wage war on Iraq because, he claimed, Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (Rampton and Stauber, 2003; Safire, 2003). W made no bones about the scope of the threat posed by Hussein: “Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof, the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud” (DNC, 2004). Consequently, if W had been after WMDs instead of oil, he’d be in a tough spot:
War à WMDs = Mistake
The truth is W knew from the beginning that Hussein posed no real threat (Clarke, 2004; Joseph, 2003; Krugman, 2003a; Moore, 2003, 2004; Rampton and Stauber, 2003; Ritter, 2003). Both Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice went on record only months prior to the 2003 war in Iraq, stating that UN weapons inspections had eradicated Iraq’s offensive military capabilities (Connelly and Pilger, 2003). Also, W was compelled to invent an aluminum tube scare (DNC, 2004) to circumvent CIA reports detailing little or no threat from Iraq.2
Thus, it did not take the Duelfer Report (Drash, 2004) to establish that W’s WMD rationale was a crock. The French, Germans, and Russians knew it. So did the UN Security Council—as did millions of protestors who demonstrated against the war in cities all over the world. Unswayed by widespread pre-war opposition, W did what any bare knuckle politician would do: he bribed and bullied a feeble Coalition of the Willing into existence to conjure the illusion that responsible members of the global community supported his bonehead war. Yet, subsequent to W’s infamous “mission accomplished” address (Bash, 2003)3 , Tony Blair (Assinder, 2004) and Aleksander Kwasniewski (Times Staff, 2004) have each expressed misgivings about their role in W’s coalition. Finally, at this late date, practically everyone in the world is willing to admit that US aggression in Iraq has been a huge mistake. Everyone that is, except for W and those cronies of his who are reaping enormous profits from the conflict (Beelman, 2003; Kerr, 2003; Krugman, 2003b; Marre, 2003).
Okay, so W and his rich pals got their war in Iraq. Apart from reassigning control of Iraqi oil reserves to US corporations, what’s been accomplished? Since transferring primary military attention from Afghanistan (a hotbed of anti-US terror) to Iraq (no connection to 9/11 or al Qaeda), the US has steadily lost ground in the war on terror (Clarke, 2004; Herbert, 2004b). W claims that the world is better off without Saddam in power, but which is worse: an anti-American tyrant whose military capabilities had diminished steadily under UN scrutiny (Drash, 2004), versus:
I think it’s safe to conclude that the world is far less secure since W decided it was high noon at the OK Corral.
Nevertheless, W has repeatedly made the astonishing claim that deposing Saddam Hussein was a good idea because Saddam was a bad guy (Herbert, 2004; Suskind, 2004b). Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Hussein’s character flaws represent a sufficient justification for war. Much as I would love to see gifted leaders at the helm of every national government—the US for starters!—it is not tenable to depose heads of state simply because we disapprove of their character. For example, W’s not all that fond of Jacques Chirac, and we know he’s got WMDs. If W gets a second term, should the French brace for an invasion? Also, Joe Stalin was a really bad guy who amassed huge stockpiles of WMDs, but the US never tried to oust him. What gives? Finally, if Hussein’s evil character embodied a sufficient pretext for war, why did W fabricate all that nonsense about WMDs?
If there is a silver lining anywhere in the Iraq debacle, it might be that, in spite of all his attempts to bludgeon public awareness of the facts, the truth is finally catching up to W (Alterman and Green, 2004; Conason, 2003; Corn, 2004; Drash, 2004; Griffin, 2004; McGettigan, 2003; Pickler, 2004; Rampton and Stauber, 2003). Hopefully, the US electorate will soon send him packing. But what about all the malice and misery W has inflicted? What can be done about that?
Unfortunately, no one has the power to undo W’s mistakes. W and, by extension, the rest of the US, has made a series of monumental blunders (Ackerman, 2003; Baraka, 2001; Gale and Orszag, 2004; Grey, 2001; Griffin, 2004; Keating and Balz; 2001; Kurtz, 2004; Palast, 2002; Podvin and Kay, 2004; Schechter, 2002)4 . If we are going to correct those misdeeds, the simplest, and perhaps best way to begin is with an apology. Given W’s legendary blind spots (Herbert, 2004b; Suskind, 2004b), we’re unlikely to catch him issuing apologies any time soon. Still, this being a democracy, if we can’t rely on W to do the right thing, ordinary citizens will have to step forward.
Therefore, on behalf of myself and my democratic government, I apologize to the global community for George W. Bush’s ineptitude, ignorance and catastrophic violence. What’s done is done, however, I hope the global community might someday forgive the US for permitting such a hopeless numbskull to run our government. From this point forward, I plan do everything in my power to prevent W (and all of his diabolical clones) from retaining control of the White House. This won’t be an easy job, because W’s still got a lot of dirty tricks up his sleeve (Blumenthal, 2004; Krugman, 2004; Kurtz, 2004; Meyer, 2004), but luckily, those who have been duped by W are gradually getting wise to his antics (Becker, 2004; Ahrens and Kurtz, 2004). Hopefully, this will be the last time I’ll ever need to apologize for George W. Bush, the worst PResident in US history.
Sincerely,
Timothy McGettigan
Department of Sociology
Colorado State University-Pueblo
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1. Cheney was also keen to secure lucrative no-bid contracts for his old friends at Halliburton (Verloy and Politi, 2004).
2. Former CIA Director George Tenet fell into disfavor with the W Administration as a result of CIA reports indicating no WMD threat in Iraq. Then, when as the Iraq war developed into a quagmire, George Tenet came under fire for failing to provide sufficient intelligence to prevent the war (CNN, 2004). Damned if you do…
3. Followed almost immediately by its renouncement. So, who is the flip-flopper?
4. Whether we voted for him or not, every American bears some responsibility for permitting W to assume control of the Oval Office. Let this be a lesson us: the next time someone pilfers a presidential election (Baraka, 2001; Fessenden and Broder, 2001; Grey, 2001; Keating and Balz; 2001; Palast, 2002; Podvin and Kay, 2004; Schechter, 2002), we should reward him with a prison cell, not the White House.
Copyright remains exclusively with the author.