Bush's Legacy

I had a pretty interesting discussion with a British friend of mine the other day. It all started when I mentioned that Bush had done a pretty good job as president. My English friend was shocked and responded that Bush was "the worst president in American history" because he "lied to the American people".

I love this argument, mostly because the qualifier is that Bush "lied". I seem to remember another president who lied, I think it had something to do with an intern and a stained dress. However, when the conservatives were up in arms about Clinton's shameful discretions in the oval office, it was England who was asking us what the big deal was.

The "Bush lied" argument might actually be valid if those pesky historical facts getting in the way. Lets just think back to what happened.

Bush recieved "British" intelligence reports that Saddam Hussein was attempting to purchase enriched uranium from a country in Africa.

The UN sent multiple inspectors to Iraq to check for weapons of mass destruction, none of whom could enter the country until they were detained for a extended period of time. Despite this, the "experts" at the UN did not see sufficient evidence that WMD's existed. Bush didn't buy that, maybe he had knocked on his kid's door a couple of times and heard "Don't come in Dad!" Anyone with half a brain knows that something is fishy.

After giving Saddam multiple chances to comply with UN policies, Bush finally sent in the military (with the full support of congress). After only a few weeks, the Dictator and his rape rooms were sent packing.

"I explained to my Brittish friend my belief that any country has the right to preserve its own interests. My friend responded that that is a purely American sentiment, and that Europe does not feel that way.

I responded that he was lucky that the US was willing to defend not only itself but the other free countries of the world. If it was not for our "warmongering", everyone in Europe would be speaking German.

It is funny how Europe has no problem with our military might when we are saving their butts from bloodthirsty dictators, but when we try to do it in the Middle East, they stick their noses up at us."when we defeat another nation,

Lets not forget that every time that the US has defeated another nation, rather than make that nation a tributary, we have essentially handed them back the keys and helped them to rebuild. Germany and Japan are industrial powers now thanks to us. But, nobody is thanking us.

In 50 years Iraq will be a bastion of democracy in an otherwise bleak corner of the world. Though I seriously doubt that Bush will get any of the credit.