Bush: Iraq War Worth the Cost
Five years, nearly 4,000 dead Americans, millions of killed or displaced Iraqi civilians and $500 billion later, George W. Bush still thinks the Iraq war was a good move. In remarks leaked on the eve of his speech marking the anniversary of the war, the president says the high costs "are necessary when we consider the cost of a strategic victory for our enemies in Iraq."
Five years, nearly 4,000 dead Americans, millions of killed or displaced Iraqi civilians and $500 billion later, George W. Bush still thinks the Iraq war was a good move. In remarks leaked on the eve of his speech marking the anniversary of the war, the president says the high costs “are necessary when we consider the cost of a strategic victory for our enemies in Iraq.”
His words once again betray his strategic incompetence. “This is a fight America can and must win,” the president will say. Of course, he can’t explain what victory is, outside of some vague notion of stability, some incoherent sense that America has weakened the morale of terrorists by restoring order to a country it degraded.
But we’ve heard this argument already, and perhaps that is what is so sad. We don’t expect Bush to take responsibility for the worst foreign policy disaster in American history. But at the very least, if he can’t think of something new to say, if he can’t come even an inch closer to reality, then on this miserable anniversary the least he could do is say nothing at all.
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...AP via Guardian:
Looking back, Bush said, “Five years into this battle, there is an understandable debate over whether the war was worth fighting … whether the fight is worth winning … and whether we can win it. The answers are clear to me: Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision and this is a fight America can and must win.”
Bush said the past five years have brought “moments of triumph and moments of tragedy,” from free elections in Iraq to acts of brutality and violence.
“The terrorists who murder the innocent in the streets of Baghdad want to murder the innocent in the streets of American cities. Defeating this enemy in Iraq will make it less likely we will face this enemy here at home,” Bush said.
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