Ten years ago today,** President Bush started the Iraq war under false pretenses.
It should never have happened. After all the killings and destruction and sectarian divisions within the country, all we can say is that Saddaam is gone and the country is a little more democratic than it was before.
But, rather than a vital, pro-Western democracy in the middle of the Middle East, we have a government that tilts more toward Tehran than to the U.S. and continuing violence and insurgents from the Sunni minority that was displaced from power.
Dick Cheney is probably the most culpable culprit in starting this war -- he and his hand-picked Rummies. Dubya was weak and uninformed and let himself be led.
No, there's not much we can point to with pride for our intervention in another country that was no immediate threat to us. Was it really just about oil? Driven by an oil man who wrangled himself in the VP slot after having procured the presidency for a weak man he could control -- up to a point?
I think history is going to show that one of Bush's least examined,
least heralded decisions was the one where he finally stood up to Cheney
and refused to pardon his boy, Scooter Libby for lying about the outing
of Valerie Plame. We're told Bush and Cheney were barely on speaking
terms after that.
Ralph
** News media have been calling March 19th the 10th anniversary, remembering that at 10:16 pm on the 19th President Bush addressed the nation, saying the invasion of Iraq had begun. But it was already March 20th in Iraq. And Wikipedia says it began on the 20th.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment