The Iraq war is not over. Afghanistan is a mess. The economy is a mess. Nothing's been done about climate change. And all around the world people have cheered a guy who threw a shoe at the president of the United States. So what's Bush's legacy? On the foreign policy front, his people are trumpeting his so-called promotion of democracy abroad. And that's how Bushies are talking about the war in Iraq they are bequeathing to the next guy. Here's Condi Rice from Meet the Press this past Sunday:
RICE: This Iraq, at the center of the Middle East, a powerful Arab state that is a friend of the United States and democratic, is going to make the Middle East a fundamentally different place.
DAVID GREGORY: Do you believe that over time, then, the United States will emerge with what will be considered an unambiguous victory in Iraq?
RICE: I believe that it will be, as time goes forward, absolutely clear that Saddam Hussein's Iraq would never have allowed the Middle East to change, and that this Iraq has the potential to anchor a more democrat, a more prosperous, a more peaceful Middle East, and, by the one, one that--by the way, one that is friendly to the United States.
From Iraq, it's just a few skips and a jump to more democratic Middle East, right? Not so. Democracy activists in the region have been complaining about Bush's policies--especially the Iraq war--for years, noting that Bush has set back the cause of democracy in the Middle East.
From an NPR report about the enthusiastic reaction to Barack Obama's victory in the Middle East:
One Bush administration policy that many in the region hope will be modified -- not jettisoned -- is the push for democracy. Mona Makram Ebeid, a former Egyptian legislator, says President Bush's penchant for, in her words, "imposing democracy" backfired, leading Arab regimes to become even more authoritarian.
"So people here wonder about the direct connection between autocratic regimes and the support of the U.S. to them. Justification for that was that they need stability in the region," Ebeid says. "The imposition of democracy has led to a regression in democratic freedoms, and causing most democrats, like myself, to shun any involvement with the U.S."
And poking at Rice, the National Security Network noted:
Just look at the results. Iraq is an ethnically splintered and still violent country where it appears the Prime Minister this week used a "counter-terrorism task force" to go after political opponents. It is undoubtedly more free then it was under Saddam Hussein, but considering the incredible cost in lives both to the Iraqis and the United States, is this the model of democratization we are looking for? Meanwhile, Afghanistan is in major trouble with the Taliban making a comeback. The Cedar Revolution in Lebanon, once hailed as an example of Bush's democratization policy, is now essentially defeated with Hezbollah the most powerful political force in the country. The West Bank and especially Gaza are in horrible shape, due in large part to the Bush administration's schizophrenic policies of pushing so hard for elections and then refusing to recognize the results. Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which seemed to be making steps towards democracy in 2005, have regressed.
This isn't a legacy of democracy and values promotion. This is a legacy of doing things halfway.
You can see the debate that is coming. The Bush-backers--an ever-diminishing band--will contend that they did what they did in Iraq to promote democracy abroad. If they took risks, if they made mistakes, it was all because they loved democracy soooooo much. They will try to use the same strategy they used in government: if we say it's so, it must be real. Those who live in the actual world will have to call them on these delusions and force them to live with the reality they are leaving behind for the rest of us.
You can follow me on Twitter and track my postings, articles, and media appearances by clicking here.
![[RSS]](http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/templates/images/rss_icon.gif){kind=icon}
![[ARCHIVES]](http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/templates/images/archives_icon.png){kind=icon}
Comments
DC,
The PNAC BS will never endure. No reason to be concerned about that.
The GOPher neocons created their own reality now they live there alone.
Posted by: capt
| December 23, 2008 10:51 AM
Since Nixon/Agnew took office every Republican administration has been peopled by felons who argued that the crimes they committed were undertaken with the best intentions to make the world a better place for conservative ideals to flourish and rule upon the firmament.
Posted by: kalpal
| December 23, 2008 11:06 AM
No doubt,
Oli North lied to congress out of patriotism and the loons still think that is completely true.
UGH!
Posted by: capt
| December 23, 2008 11:17 AM
White House Lied About Iraqi Yellowcake Buy, But That’s Not the Biggest Scandal
A new congressional report is belatedly confirming what many have long known: that the White House and in particular then White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, lied to Congress in 2004 when he told them the Bush administration was not repeatedly warned by the CIA not to make the claim that Saddam had tried to buy uranium ore from Niger.
http://tinyurl.com/8jxla6
THE LIE OF THE CENTURY
http://tinyurl.com/623qje
Posted by: as_if!
| December 23, 2008 1:29 PM
I think the yellow cake fell off the table?
Posted by: capt
| December 23, 2008 4:36 PM
Exclusive: Cheney’s admissions to the CIA leak prosecutor and FBI
by Murray Waas
http://murraywaas.crooksandliars.com/2008/12/23/exclusive-cheneys-admissions-to-the-cia-leak-prosecutor-and-fbi/
Posted by: Alan
| December 23, 2008 5:51 PM
I have a new use for Gitmo.
Actual felons, this time.
Just certain ones.
Posted by: David B. Benson
| December 23, 2008 8:53 PM
CBS: KBR knowingly exposed troops to toxic dust
A CBS News investigation has obtained evidence that a subsidiary of Halliburton, the giant energy company formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, knowingly exposed United States soldiers to toxic materials in Iraq.
KBR, which was spun off by Halliburton in 2007 as a separate corporation, has previously been accused of providing contaminated water to troops in Iraq, taking kickbacks, and sending workers to Iraq against their will.
KBR has issued a statement saying, "We deny the assertion that KBR harmed troops and was responsible for an unsafe condition."
http://tinyurl.com/7ecgon
Posted by: as_if!
| December 24, 2008 1:17 AM
Bush and his cronies must face a reckoning.
Heinous crimes are now synonymous with this US administration. If it isn't held to account, what does that say about us?
If Bush and Cheney are allowed to retire quietly, America will have failed to reassert that bedrock principle of the republic: the rule of law.
http://tinyurl.com/a4gtne
Posted by: as_if!
| December 24, 2008 1:37 PM
Post A Comment