Saturday, July 12, 2008

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.

Recommend this post

7 comments:

  1. "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."

    95% of Americans know NOTHING about Canada.

    The fact you can say that shows just how ignorant you are.

    BTW, I'm a dual American-Canadian and Americans don't give two shits about Canada anymore than they do about Cuba.

    So get off your high horse.

    Americans are the proudest people in the world. Hands down.

    Go to the USA and you American flags hanging from almost every house.

    In Canada, you might see 3 or 4 in a city like Toronto.

    Grow up loon.

    President Bush liberated Iraq and Afghanistan and is a hero to those people. Just ask them.

    I find you funny Ledaro, because if you were around during WW2, you surely would have been against that war as well. After all, the Americans pounded the shit out of those countries but was still hailed as liberators to the Europeans.

    You're a typical anti-American who is just jealous of the USA.

    If you would hate Dion as much as you hate Americans, you might save yourself thousands of dollars in the carbon tax rip off.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Johnathon, did you get fresh supply of opium from Afghanistan.

    I have travelled through US and love the people. Nothing wrong with them. I went to school with Americans. I am friends with many Americans. Two of my co-workers at one time were Americans. I was a more friend with them than rest of the staff and my countrymen.

    70% of Americans believe the same what I do. Only 28% give lukewarm approval to the monkey.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I should add that one of my favourite teachers was American.

    My close relatives live in US.

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  4. "70% of Americans believe the same what I do. Only 28% give lukewarm approval to the monkey"

    70% of Americans disagree with a number of Bush's policies.

    Not your post.

    If any American read your post, they would stomp on you until all that ignorant blood in your body was in the local sewer.The only people who think like you are the far left in the USA like mediamatters.com and dailykos.com. Nobody else would agree with that post.

    Your post is a typical anti-American rhetorical facade.

    Nothing but a joke, lies and outright bullshit.

    If you want me to pick apart your post, let me know.

    But I'm sure your probably "photoshopping" a new joke today.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I knew it is always a mistake to take seriously buffoons like you.

    It looks you got a big doze of opium.

    Yes I hate Americans like you and the moron in Washington DC who calls himself President. It is psychopaths like you who give bad name to America.

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  6. Dear LeDaro:

    You're poorly made graphic has stretched the liblogs.com homepage, making it more difficult to read everyone else's posts. This is not the first time. I think many people would appreciate it if you kept your humourless posts within reasonable size constraints in the future.

    Regards,

    Ben Hicks

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  7. Mr. Hicks, the man of great taste, I usually keep my pictures to 700 Pixel width. This one was a mistake I admit. I did not like it after posting but then it was posted so fast on the Liblog that I did not change it. It is not my pictures which usually cause problems. Lot of other bloggers post huge pictures.

    Thank you your majesty,

    Ledaro

    ReplyDelete