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Because this essay compares the two presidents
Bush, I refer to them as "Bush Sr." or "George
H. Bush Sr." (President during 1991), and "Bush Jr."
or "George W. Bush" (President during 2007).
IRAQ: A tale of two Bushes
A few
points to get out of the way at the onset.
George Bush Sr. and his handling of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait was ''genius''.
Question: Was "Oil" a variable in the decision to defend Kuwait? Yes - of course; absolutely. .We probably would not have defended an innocent victim, had there not been a compelling "reason", or - as some would call it - "pay-off". While arguements can be made on the ethics of such decisions, it's good to focus on one fact: The US was coming to the aid a defenseless ally who had been unlawfully invaded by another country. .I.E. Iraq invaded Kuwait, and the United States responded to defend Kuwait in the early 90's.
Because of George H. W. Bush Sr. - we had the support and alliance of the Arab League of Nations, as well as the United Nations. Nearly ALL countries involved were on our side, and we were on theirs. We all worked together respected each others' wishes.
ONE CONDITION.
A reasonable
question frequently asked: "If we were in Iraq back
in 1991, then why didn't we take Hussein then & there? When
we had the chance?"
There were many objections to capturing Hussein at this time, but the most important is this: It was against the will of the United Nations & the Arab Coalition. In essence, both organizations told us they would support our mission to drive Iraqi troops out of Kuwait - but they would NOT support taking out Saddam Hussein. Because of this - apprehending Hussein was never an objective of Operation Desert Storm.
Like me - many Americans were extremely frustrated (to say the least) - especially George H. Bush Sr. Nevertheless, President Bush Sr. respected the consensus of the global neighborhood. And the global neighborhood respected the U.S.
Although it's build-up
- Operation Desert Shield - lasted several months, the
actual attack - "Desert Storm" lasted 100 hours - and
is considered by some to be one of the greatest military and
diplomatic victories in U.S. history.
Overwhelming Force
The American-led attack, dubbed Operation "Desert Storm"
consisted of approximately one million well-equipped, highly
coordinated military personnel from all over the world. Indeed,
the proverbial "overwhelming force". Under the
current "Operation Iraqi Freedom" - we've had less
than 10% of that.
In his memoirs (written years prior to working for George W. Bush Jr.), retired General Colin Powell clearly advocates such use of "overwhelming force" as a means to victory, while minimizing casualties on both sides.
Regrettably, we did lose 293 U.S. military personnel during Desert Storm. But it's worth noting this is less than tenth of 1% of the total fighting force. Furthermore, about half of that 293 was non-combat fatalities. For example, one soldier who was hit by a truck; another fell out of a helicopter.
In simplest terms, George H. W. Bush Sr. was a good man, and a good president.
By contrast, I'm sorry to say that his son - our current President ("Jr.") - is a danger to U.S. national security, and one of our most destructive and globally embarrassing presidents in recent history. If the Constitution allows for it - we should vote "No Confidence" in Bush Jr, & have him lawfully removed from Office.
This - in contrast to his
father, George H. W. 
Bush
Sr. who considered carefully the recommendations of his Cabinet
and followed the tactical advice of his generals (not least of
whom, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Colin L. Powell and his one-time
neighbor General "Stormin' Norman" Schwartzkopf).
Bush Sr. then presented his case to the U.N. and was generally well-received.
Does our current President, George Bush Jr. listen to the U.N.? Obviously not.
Does he listen to his staff & advisors?
Of all the people who have - at one time or another held cabinet positions under Bush Jr. - two thirds of that number have resigned their positions.
George Bush Jr. says that, if necessary "we" are willing to go it alone. Well - "it is", and "we are".
Although Britain & a few other countries are in on this too, we have nowhere near the support we had back in 1991.
So
far as Commander in Chief, George W. Bush Jr.is responsible for
the loss of over 4,337 US Military Personnel (not to mention the thousands
more Iraqi civilians).
Our military soldiers have died because of this invasion. People who swore their lives to defend their country. These heroes are dead. Forever gone. Thank you Bush Jr.
Over 30,000 other US troops have been wounded so badly - they had to be evacuated. Most of them never to return to duty. .Many, either amputees, crippled or permanently injured in some other way.
This is partly because - due to Bush Jr's lack of cooperation with our global neighbors - we went in with less than half as many troops as we had back in 1991.
Not only is our invasion force fewer in numbers, but our troops are so poorly equipped, many soldiers are receiving flak vests from their parents. This is protection they should be receiving from our government.
Another point of contrast between the current US "Liberation" of Iraq and Operation Desert Storm: The Arab countries resent our occupation. We are seen by the Arab community as attakcing a non-threatening Muslim country, which is what we have done. This is one more problem Bush Jr. failed to avoid. Another lesson he should have learned from his father.
Because of this perception of the U.S. beating up on a weaker Muslim country - ''al Qaeda'' and its member terrorist groups, are enjoying an increase in recruitment.
Bush Jr. has used (or rather ''abused'') the catastrophe of 9/11 to justify his invasion of Iraq.
Imm
ediately
following 9/11, anti-terrorism czar Richard Clarke (as well as
top people from FBI) all agreed Iraq had no involvement in 9/11.
All our terrorism specialists recommended we focus efforts in
Afghanistan.
The Iraqi government wasn't involved. Not with Al Qaeda, not with their flight training, not with any of their logistics, not with their passports... NOTHING.
Despite these facts, when you listen to the news, you seldom hear George W. Bush Jr. talk about Iraq, without making some reference to 9/11 or al Qaeda.
Iraq was "annoying" - yes. And - yes - we needed to maintain the No-Fly Zone. And we needed to make sure they don't get any funny ideas about attacking Kuwait or Saudi Arabia.
But other than these limited capacities as agreed to by the U.N., we had no business in Iraq.
Consequently, after more than five years of exhaustive combat, our troops are in a needlessly dangerous position, we are hated by most of the planet, our military is "streteched too thin", we have fewer & fewer recruits and the resolve and hatred of most terrorists - al Qaeda or otherwise - has intensified against us.
Our military forces are focused so strongly in Iraq, we can't keep an eye on the REAL problems - such as North Korea.
So why are we in Iraq?
Iraq's military was crippled after Desert Storm.
UN Weapons Inspectors said there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
We have still not found Bin Laden. Come to that, have you noticed how seldom (if ever) Bush mentions Bin Laden?
Under these circumstances, is it any wonder fewer & fewer men & women are enlisting in the Armed Forces? I know people who claim to be in favor of this invasion, yet at the same time - discourage their teen & early-20s children to enlist. "I support the war, so long as it's someone else's kid getting his guts blown out."
Is there any reason Bush has not been lawfully removed from Office? Is this not insanity? Former L.A. prosecutor Vince Bugliosi has some good ideas. Bugliosi is the man who convicted Charles Manson (who never actually killed anyone, but encouraged his followers to kill people illegally. )
We've lost thousands of American troops because of George W. Bush Jr. So assuming our Constitution doesn't end up in some Florida shredder, later this year we'll get a chance to make sure we don't get some clone puppet of Bush Jr. Personally - I like Obama, but vote for anyone different than Bush Jr.
So, I beg you - Republicans & Democrats alike - let's get someone decent for a change. Someone with a greater respect for Life, and a greater appreciation for the lives of our military soldiers.
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