Farewell To A Flawed And Unpopular Commander-in-chief
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday January 17, 2009
WHEN George Bush came to power eight years ago, he appeared the ideal president for a nation that was withdrawing from the world. For a seasoned politician, he displayed a singular lack of curiosity in international matters - a perception reinforced during his Administration's first months when American might seemed enfeebled by China's seizure of a reconnaissance plane. During his inauguration in January 2001 the Herald noted his approach to foreign policy was likely to be less divisive if only because it was less interesting to him and most Americans. September 11, 2001, changed all that.
Declaring war on global terrorism, the 43rd president of the United States, in concert with allies including Australia and England, removed the Taliban from power in Afghanistan and wrenched Iraq from Saddam Hussein's oppressive rule. Mr Bush's single-minded prosecution of the war remains the enduring policy of his turbulent two terms. He leaves his country mired in that war. It has cost billions of dollars and thousands of lives. It has resulted in a fragile democracy in Baghdad and a corrupt regime in Kabul with the opium trade and the Taliban flourishing in the provinces. The terrorist responsible for the September 11 attacks, al-Qaeda's founder, Osama bin Laden, remains at large. In his farewell speech yesterday, Sydney time, Mr Bush said he was right to focus on security in the post-September 11 environment. "While our nation is safer than it was seven years ago, the gravest threat to our people remains another terrorist attack." As has been noted elsewhere in the Herald today, the incoming president will also face a daunting task in combating Islamic extremism.In the legacy speech, Mr Bush also admitted that, in retrospect, there were things he would do differently but he hoped people would agree he "was willing to make tough decisions". The reality is that Mr Bush faces the same problem as his predecessor, Bill Clinton: being remembered more for failures than successes. Even at the knock, his spectacular inarticulateness prevents him from mounting a coherent case in his own defence. The successes are tangible. Washington's relations with China and India improved during his watch. His commitment to fight AIDS in Africa by pumping billions of dollars into humanitarian and development assistance was an unexpected political surprise. He also refused to join the anti-immigration crusade that ripped through Republican ranks. Nor should it be forgotten he won a second mandate from US voters - at odds with the critics' charge that he ranks as the White House's most hapless occupant since Warren Harding.From an Australian perspective, the signing of the Australia-United States free trade agreement was the culmination of five decades of thwarted negotiations. It was a further sign how Australia is regarded as a valued partner in Washington, a relationship that will undoubtedly continue during Barack Obama's administration. But in the end, the economy stands as Mr Bush's most troublesome legacy. The US remains the globe's biggest economy and the calamitous events of the past six months prove that, despite talk of the new Asian century, when Wall Street sneezes the world catches cold. Certainly, the flaws in the world's financial markets extend back well beyond the Bush Administration. But as a spruiker of aggressive free-market capitalism, the buck certainly stops at the Oval Office.Disenchantment set in long before the economy soured. The Bush image was immensely damaged by his failure to act decisively when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi Gulf Coast, flooding 80 per cent of the major city of New Orleans. The torture at Abu Ghraib prison and unconstitutional interrogation programs at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, both carried out by US troops he exempted from observing the Geneva Convention, are dark stains on his record.Mr Bush was rightly shocked by Abu Ghraib. At the time he said "this is not the America I know" but too often he seemed to dwell in the separate reality that he and his inner circle were so keen to create. His decision to ignore the United Nations and invade Iraq resulted in the US's international standing being diminished.Yet, it remains too easy to underestimate US resilience and resolve. The Herald judgment is that Mr Bush will struggle to make the mid-ranks of US presidential achievement. His final legacy may be clearing the way for Mr Obama's election and the hope and optimism that accompany it.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald