How will you remember the out going 43rd president of the United States of America, George Walker Bush? The days after 9/11 were a spine chilling reminder that America faces murderous enemies spanning the globe, and to his credit, it was President Bush who reassured and led his nation in a time of unimaginably harrowing grief. His leadership immediately following the September 11th attacks, especially with regard to building a worldwide coalition in the early fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, seemed to promise great things… but then promises are mere promises!
Those great things, however, never materialized. The Iraq war, the Hurricane Katrina debacle, near showdown with Iran, standoff with North Korea, handling of emergent Russia and a history of disregard for civil liberties and international law has virtually destroyed President Bush’s legacy in the short term, at least for the remainder of his lifetime. Not to forget, his lame duck role as the American Economy went into recession and thousands lost jobs and homes.
I still remember, it was hot and sultry in the newsroom and everyone’s eyes were glued to a TV set - New York’s iconic twin towers were conspicuous by their absence, amidst dirt and rubble, at ‘Ground Zero’ stood President George W. Bush addressing a shell shocked nation. “America today is on a bended knee, in prayer for the people whose lives were lost here, for the workers who work here, for the families who mourn. This nation stands with the good people of New York City and New Jersey and Connecticut as we mourn the loss of thousands of our citizens.” A rescue worker, who couldn’t hear the President uttered: “I can't hear you!” What followed was unscripted rhetoric. President Bush remarked extemporaneously, "I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people -- and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!" [Transcript Source: White House (www.whitehouse.gov)] I immediately developed a sense of awe and respect for the patriarch whose paternalistic devotion to protect his people in the wake of 9/11 reigned supreme. But what followed was an unmitigated disaster for America.
If my memory serves me right, I think President Bush has the unique distinction of being the first president of the United States to include diverse underrepresented groups within the federal government, especially within his cabinet. He needs to be acknowledged for crossing partisan lines and continuing the Clintonian tradition. History will remember President Bush in part for appointing Condoleezza Rice (the first African-American National Security Advisory), Colin Powell (the first African-American Secretary of State), Elaine Chao (the first Asian-American Secretary of Labour), and Alberto Gonzales (the first Chicano Attorney General). Dr. Condoleezza Rice subsequently went on to become the Secretary of State (second African American, and the second woman - after Madeleine Albright) …
President Bush, despite having highly qualified and intellectual office-bearers at the Oval Office, has suffered a misplaced ideological handicap. He never came out of the influence of the Cold War Era (perhaps courtesy his father and Ronald Reagan, his hero) nor did he choose to acquaint himself with the larger reality that the American Way of Life is not the only way of life. He was lost in the world where free and unregulated Market Forces formed the only life support system and Capitalism was the will of God. Economic & Market Regulatory framework amounted to governmental control, therefore akin to Socialism – thus a taboo! Therefore, when the American Economy showed the first major signs of crisis, about two years ago with the housing/realty sector, some intervention was warranted. No not for President Bush! Run away corruption and greed has been raising its ugly head at Wall Street for now roughly three years. Corporate scandals (like Enron) abounded as did the greed of Oil companies to reap profits with the ethics of a grave robber. All this did not bode well for the corporate sector, the economy, and the American goodwill world wide.
What will be George W. Bush’s legacy? The answer seems sadly simple… the president who, on his farewell visit to Iraq, had to duck and negotiate flying shoes. The “President of War”! The President who misinformed and in all probability even lied to the world, as his administration conspired against Saddam Hussein. Bush mesmerized the American people with his highly imaginative and inaccurate tales of Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein being flip sides of the same coin.
The 43rd President of the United States of America will also be remembered as the one who finally managed to alienate America’s closest European allies. Germany and France found themselves openly voicing their disenchantment with the “Bush Doctrine”. Ironically, after eight years of Bush rule - inclusive of five years of the “Bush Doctrine,” America landed up undermining the very foundation of the United Nations that it had helped create by unilaterally embarking on the Invasion of Iraq. Interestingly, the American Don Quixote while championing the cause of democracy pursued a typical authoritarian road map to Baghdad. In the process, the knight in tin armour sowed seeds of discontent and resentment even in quarters that were sympathetic to the American View of the World. It is under President Bush’s stewardship, the Pew Global Attitudes Project findings indicate, that the global opinion of the United States of America has taken a serious tumble.
In today’s world of economic inter-dependency, given the size and nature of the America-centric international trade and commerce, it is unlikely that many countries may go the whole hog in assuming rigid anti-American stances. But, I fear that America may have isolated itself in most international organisations, including the United Nations.
Denial of the Global Warming Phenomena, Somersaults on the Kyoto Agreement, keeping quiet on the China-Tibet issue, overlooking tin-pot dictators in Africa (and at times supporting them), skewed policies in dealing with Al Qaeda and the Taliban, wanton violation of the Geneva Convention at prisons like Abu Ghraib and detention centres like in Guantanamo Bay have done irreparable damage to America. And, all of that has happened under the watch of George W. Bush.
It was not long ago when President Bush stood on a naval aircraft carrier with a banner screaming “mission accomplished!” The invasion of Iraq was over, the war on terror won and democracy established in Iraq! Three years down the line body bags continue to arrive in America, with no end in sight. America today rides a tiger which it fears disembarking! The truth is that the moment American forces retreat from this quagmire; all rival factions will usher Iraq into a bloodbath. It seems, Iraq was definitely better off under Saddam!
On the other hand spasmodic efforts to engage Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan have failed to secure safety for America. Mr. Bush committed himself and his people to the Afghan War (and I am reminded of “Auckland's Folly” of 1838) without having deliberated on a viable alternative to Taliban for Afghanistan – like economic and social development. The President had rushed in where angels have feared to tread! Today, America faces graver security threats at the hands of terrorist than ever before.
President Bush went on to become highly unpopular within his own country, as well. The Patriot Act provided the federal government with the legal jurisdiction and political capital to access the personal information of its citizens. President Bush reversed some of the most basic of guaranteed civil liberties including Article IV of the Bill of Rights. The security agencies indulged in stereotypes and social profiling is carried out against a certain set of people irrespective of their nationality to the extent that it has become an abomination.
Many critics believe that Bush was a disaster; they have gone to the limit of attributing even the present global economic crash to his policies. According to them, President Bush will go down in history books for the following reasons:
- Abu Ghraib
- Alberto Gonzalez
- Blackwater
- Cheney shooting someone in the face
- Enron
- Faith Based Initiatives
- Falsified intelligence
- Firing of U.S. Attorneys
- Inflation
- Loss of Habeas Corpus
- Rising unemployment
- Scooter Libby
- September 11, 2001
- Sinking economy
- Sinking public opinion
- Soaring gas prices
- Suppression of climate science
- The Afghan War
- The Iraqi Quagmire
- The Katrina debacle
- The Patriot Act
- Torture
- Tyco
- Veto of stem cell bill
- Water Boarding
- Wire Tapping
To sum up I would like to quote Monti Narayan Datta’s dissertation work focusing on the consequences of anti-Americanism for the US national interest.
“The legacy of George W. Bush will be bleak. Here stands a man with essentially a good heart, and the right intentions—to help spread freedom and democracy around the globe. He has enjoyed the company of a brilliant cabinet in the Oval Office that has shared his ideological misadventures. Yet, the man has done more harm to the US national interest in the past five years than all other US presidents have over the past fifty-years combined... President Bush’s policies have garnered hatred around the world, particularly in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the Bush Administration has sharply curtailed some of Americans’ basic civil liberties... tarring America’s image as a country of freedom and equality... America is far less safe today because of one, and only one man—George W. Bush.”
I do not absolve President Bush of his doings, but I am also convinced that President Bush served merely as a catalyst to polarise all Anti-American sentiment which had been simmering across the globe for a long-long time. Europe has been talking of the neo-imperialism of America long before even George Bush Senior had descended on the White House. Latin America always found itself at wrong end of the White House’s policies. Many dictators and unpopular governments, all across the globe, have survived by merely granting concessions to Multi-National Companies (to be read as the American Interest). Ever since the Balfour Declaration in 1918, the Arab World has felt cheated! The American policy in dealing with Israel has done little to restore trust or even assuage the frayed tempers in the Middle East. The West’s and the US’s long standing obsession with Islam as a threat perception has added fuel to fire.
We know that George Walker Bush did not conjure up the “Clash of Civilisations” theory, he simply was not wedded to the idea of a “Dialogue among Civilizations” keeping in line with polices of many of his predecessors. Most of the Third World and the Developing Nations have been wary or “pissed off” with the American View of the World. President Bush did not create Osama bin Laden, Osama and his likes are outcome of a consistent viewpoint held by the American polity! Ironically, Bush tried to don the mantle of the Messiah of Peace between Israel and Palestine but failed miserably! When giants cast a shadow hope for shade!
America is definitely not a villain of the first order nor is all encompassing conclave of so-called anti-American sentiment innocent lambs. All that the 43rd President of the United States of America did was, rather tactlessly; bring the malady plaguing the world to the fore! He was, in part, reaping the fruits from the seeds that some of his predecessors had sown. Yet, he will be seen as a President who missed opportunities at every turn to make the country and the world a better, safer place. He will be remembered as the leader who diminished respect for America around the globe. And more than any President in American history, he divided people along religious and ideological lines to further his own agenda. Given the reason for the ongoing fight in Iraq, this last part is the saddest irony of all. He was simply a wrong man at a wrong place at a wrong time!
