George W. Bush Legacy

FISA (The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) may say "foreign surveillance" but it allows surveillance of any American. Uncle Sam can arrest anyone, put him/her in GITMO or a similar detention facility, and waive habeas corpus. Habeas Corpus is also denied to detainees in ships, in Iraq and wherever else the American government is keeping detainees.

I was very disappointed by Senator Obama when he voted for the FISA bill (for the record, Hillary Clinton - along with former Presidential candidates Joe Biden and Chris Dodd - voted against it. The latter, Dodd, tried to fillibuster the legislation).

FISA gives retroactive immunity to telecommunication companies that participated in surveillance. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and certain members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are let off the hook for crimes they might have committed in the lead up to the Iraq War.

This is a very sad saga, and a setback for human rights and civil liberties.

Lying and deception to justify the Iraq War, waiving habeas corpus to carry out war crimes, these are the hallmarks of the Bush administration, its legacy.

Overall, talking about legacy in general, the Presidency of George W. Bush has been a disaster. It's hard to dispute this point, regardless of whether one falls on the right or the left side of the political spectrum. From soaring deficits and the growth of unnecessary bureaucracy (ie. Homeland Security) to violations of civil liberties and human rights, the list of failures is seemingly endless.

To start with, Bush has launched two bloody and unsuccessful wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, its been six years and still no progress, the Taliban is regrouping, Bin Laden is still at large, and the country is in ruins. Furthermore, the war in Afghanistan has created new instability in Pakistan. For instance, the City of Quetta, which used to be relatively peaceful, has now become a hotbed of Taliban and militant activity. With regards to Iraq, that country's destruction and ruin is well documented - the destruction of Iraq's infrastructure and the cost in American and Iraqi lives is staggering. Now Bush is sabre-rattling Iran - which has been empowered (and thus is a new target for the Bush administration) because their chief rival, Iraq, has been eliminated.

In the eyes of many Muslims, the "War on Terror" feels more like a "War on Islam"... or even a "Crusade on Islam."

This has ruined America's reputation, not only in the Muslim World but internationally. At best, Bush has made America into a laughingstock, at worse he's made America into an object of loathing and contempt. Unfortunately this is taken out on the American people who, when they travel overseas, often pretend to be Canadian in order to avoid being mistreated.

So put simply, Bush's Presidency has been a disaster for the World. Historians may debate who America's worse President was, but none has had such a destructive impact Worldwide as Bush has. The end of the Bush Presidency cannot come soon enough.

UPDATE: Jayne Mayer has written a new book, The Dark Side, which discusses the torture of detainees as well as the criminal actions and human rights violations of the Bush White House and certain members of Congress.

You can click here and here for more details about this book.

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