Bush and History

One of the persistent themes that the defenders of this administration, in particular the Decider in Chief return to again and again is the notion that when the history of this presidency is finally written, it will exonerate the wisdom of W's bold decisiveness and stubborn insistence on staying the course. There is a fatalistic belief that in the long long run, the books will note that while he was persecuted and reviled in his time in office, the ultimate wisdom and foresight of his actions will win the day.

This seems to me to be a complete load of crap.

What is it that would make such a scenario play out? Very concrete objectives were laid out when we pre-emptively invaded a sovereign constitutional government in Iraq, namely the defeat of radical Islamic terrorists who were being supported by Saddam Hussein, as well as the dismantling of his stockpiles of WMDs, which he was hiding from the United Nations Weapons Inspectors. Even giving Bush a mulligan for the WMD lies, it seems objectively clear that we have created many more radical Islamic terrorists than we've defeated, and we've spread chaos and destruction throughout Western Asia. We've become a pariah on the international stage, and strengthened and emboldened Iran, a true hegemon in the region, and invigorated their aspirations for a Shiite ascendancy across Persia and Mesopotamia. We've inflamed dormant and suppressed ancient tribal hatreds and unleashed misery and death that we in the United States may never truly appreciate.

At the end of the day, Iraq may heal, Iran may lurch towards modernity and open society, and the United States may regain the moral high ground that it has occupied as long as I have been around. But that will have nothing at all to do with the actions undertaken by this administration. If we end up with a thriving multi ethnic democracy in Iraq and a cosmopolitan Persian republic, there is no way that it will have anything to do with what we've unleashed. It will be in spite of that. The march towards openness and modernity will be led by the people of those countries, not imposed by a hypocritical invading force, nor "unleashed" by Operation Desert Whatever.

The hubris of this administration's belief that history will exonerate their decisions beggars belief. It is based upon the completely misguided belief that this war is somehow noble and emancipating. War is a failure of diplomacy and of human progress. The history of this Presidency can be written now, a failed policy, a failed war, a failed presidency.