I think George W. Bush should apologize to the world for a number of very misguided and highly offensive things he's done. We all know he won't apologize for anything, but I think it's important for the world to know that many, if not most, Americans have come to disagree with the domestic and foreign policies advocated by this U.S. president. The same guy Rolling Stone magazine described as the "worst in U.S. history." So allow me to apologize on behalf of President George W. Bush for his many and varied mistakes and outright blunders. Where to start? There are so many bad things this guy has done. An apology to the people of Iraq for our invasion:Bush was dead wrong about Saddam Hussein harboring weapons of mass destruction, and also about Hussein's possible involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Did he just get bad information from our intel sources, or did he flat out lie about the need to go to war with Iraq? I doubt that we will ever know for sure. We should not have attacked Iraq. President Bush should have acknowledged this colossal error, but so far has not. He was wrong about the rationale for the invasion but has seen fit to justify it after the fact by pointing out that Saddam Hussein was a very bad guy and deserved to be removed from power. It's true. Hussein was a very bad guy. But he was Iraq's bad guy. He was not a threat to the Untied States. We had no business invading Iraq and toppling his government. It is clear to the entire world by now that Hussein did a far better job of maintaining the peace in Iraq than has the "coalition" (read: mostly the United States with some help, mostly from Britain). Had this arrogant, ignorant president of ours not invaded and followed that up with the stunningly incompetent postwar management, we would not be facing the prospect of endless war in that country, with its endless costs in treasury and human life. Frankly, I think once Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney realized that they blew it, they should have apologized to Hussein, put him back in power, and left the country. Instead, he was hanged and we are still in Iraq. With no end in sight. "The Iraq War may turn out to be the greatest strategic disaster in American history," says former National Security Agency chief Lt. General William Odom, Ret. No kidding! On behalf of our still-in-denial president, who is clearly unable to utter these words, "I apologize to the people of Iraq for attacking your country and creating this horrific mess. I screwed up." An apology to Russia and President Vladimir Putin regarding U.S. missiles in Eastern Europe:When the Cold War ended, the United States made covert promises to Russia that we would not put missiles in nations formerly part of the Soviet Union. What has since happened? President George W. Bush has seen fit to order the installation of interceptor missiles in Eastern European countries. Supposedly, the intent is to provide protection from a possible attack from Iran, although Iran has no capability of lobbing missiles into Europe. This has angered Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Los Angeles Times reported on April 4, 2007: "Iran won't be able, in the foreseeable future, to manufacture missile launchers with more than a 3,000-kilometer [1,800-mile] radius. How can it present an acute danger to the United States, then?" said retired Maj. Gen. Roman Popkovich, a former chairman of the defense committee in the lower house of the Russian parliament. "Maybe they are not telling us about their real strategic plans, something like being able to shoot down our missiles at takeoff." Despite assurances by the Bush administration that the missiles will face away from Russia, they are deeply suspicious of our intentions, and who can blame them? Mr. Putin is threatening the resumption of an arms race. Do we really need this? Mr. Bush must miss the "good old days" of the Cold War. Mr. Putin, I would like you to understand that President Bush is prone to making serious miscalculations and foolish mistakes. I would like to believe any successor of his will take a more enlightened view of the perceived threat our missile presence in the region has upon Russia. Mr. Putin, should you respond by targeting your missiles at us, I would like to recommend that one-third of them be aimed at the White House, one-third at Camp David in Maryland, and one-third at Crawford, Texas. For the most part, Americans don't like Bush any more than you do. On behalf of our reckless, cowboy president who seems incapable of enjoying peace with former adversaries, I would like to say, "I'm sorry, Vladimir, I didn't realize this would piss you off. We'll take them out." An apology to the families and friends of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines killed or wounded in Iraq:The essential cause of the ever-mounting casualty count is this: Planners of the Iraq invasion did it on the cheap. They figured about 150,000 U.S. military personnel (plus a few thousand from other nations) were sufficient to defeat Iraq's army (they were), overthrow the government (they were), and provide security throughout the large nation of 27 million people (they were not.) This is part and parcel of the ongoing Bush administration foreign policy cluster fuck. Bush & Co. figured we would be met as saviors, with open arms, red carpets and tossed flowers. Therefore, they thought there would be little opposition to coalition forces occupying their country. Obviously, the Bush administration did not get the reception it expected. Iraq isn't France of latter 1944. Our forces were spread so thin, there was (and is) no way to secure the country in any meaningful way. Instead, forces are directed here and there as hotbeds of "insurgent" activity erupts. (While we're at it, just what percentage of so-called insurgents are foreign fighters engaged in combat in Iraq? It seems to me mostly they are Iraqis, which doesn't make them insurgents. It makes them citizens.) We are playing the enemy's game, responding to their moves. When you don't have sufficient force on the ground, you leave the bad boys plenty of opportunity to invent ingenious ways to kill your troops. And isn't this the essential problem? For example, press reports in late May, 2007, indicate the relative absence of American forces in Diyala Province, north and east of Baghdad, has enabled the enemy to bury large roadside bombs deep under heavily-traveled roads. This makes them undetectable to a convoy of military vehicles just driving down the road. At the end of May, several U.S. soldiers were killed by these devices. The Bush administration's sheer incompetence at handling post-war Iraq has led to (as of June 1, 2007) approximately 3,470 American military deaths and some 60,200 wounded (per icasualties.org.) As long as the force levels stay at such levels and the Iraqi people remain hostile or indifferent to the presence of American troops in their country, these casualties will only increase. On behalf of President Bush, who doesn't have either the brains or compassion to do this himself, I would like to apologize to the mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, husbands, wives and children, other relatives and friends of those wounded in the Iraq War. These are my words, but pretend that George W. Bush is speaking them (and hopefully meaning it): "We did not adequately plan for the aftermath of the Iraq War. It is clear now that we should have had at least four times the force level in order to secure the peace. This failure is largely to blame for over 3,400 U.S. service men and women killed, and over 60,200 wounded. I take responsibility for this failure and I apologize for the wounding or death of your loved one." Of course, it turns out there was no reason to go to war in the first place. That issue was addressed at the top of this article. --Michael McKown, June 1, 2007.
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