End of the Bush era
Friday, 7 November 2008
BUSH represented everything that was bad. He lied about his background to get into the White House and for many Democrats he even stole the first term. If you think he staged 9/11 with active help from the Israelis, you will be dubbed a conspiracy theorist but there are more holes in the official American assertion about what actually happened than a sieve. Blaming the shadowy Al-Qaeda he went to war in Afghanistan to hunt them down. He forgot to mention the real reason-the oil pipeline business.
Next he fabricated intelligence reports that "proved beyond doubt" that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. He convinced gullible Americans about the need to disarm Iraq and got them on board to open a second front. He also got the British on board with the connivance of another lier the British PM Blair. The Anglo-Americans attacked Iraq which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousand of civilians.
Compared to the death machine of the US-led forces, the Afghan or Iraqi freedom fighters are severely ill-equipped, but they are exacting a very heavy price from the invaders. There are also doubts about the actual casualties of the invaders. Many think one should just multiply it by three (at least!). The vicious invading forces continue to murder civilians to this day in those two countries.
But in taking his country to two wars he also borrowed heavily and in the process destroyed the American economy triggering a super collapse of its financial institutions that reverberated across the globe. There is another side to it: people may have lost millions but what about those who made millions selling the wars to the American people? The election of 2008 ended the Bush era and has hopefully ushered in a more positive, decent and dynamic era.
The new president elect Barack Obama is a decent man and capable leader but he cannot change things overnight as far as Iraq or Afghanistan is concerned (and you can forget about Israel). Yes, he has said he will be fair and just in dealing with people that he will listen to the grievances of the opposite camp but his first priority will be to turn around the slide of the US economy and bring it out of the abyss where it was plunged by Bush.
Habibur Rahman
Malibagh, Dhaka
Next he fabricated intelligence reports that "proved beyond doubt" that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. He convinced gullible Americans about the need to disarm Iraq and got them on board to open a second front. He also got the British on board with the connivance of another lier the British PM Blair. The Anglo-Americans attacked Iraq which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousand of civilians.
Compared to the death machine of the US-led forces, the Afghan or Iraqi freedom fighters are severely ill-equipped, but they are exacting a very heavy price from the invaders. There are also doubts about the actual casualties of the invaders. Many think one should just multiply it by three (at least!). The vicious invading forces continue to murder civilians to this day in those two countries.
But in taking his country to two wars he also borrowed heavily and in the process destroyed the American economy triggering a super collapse of its financial institutions that reverberated across the globe. There is another side to it: people may have lost millions but what about those who made millions selling the wars to the American people? The election of 2008 ended the Bush era and has hopefully ushered in a more positive, decent and dynamic era.
The new president elect Barack Obama is a decent man and capable leader but he cannot change things overnight as far as Iraq or Afghanistan is concerned (and you can forget about Israel). Yes, he has said he will be fair and just in dealing with people that he will listen to the grievances of the opposite camp but his first priority will be to turn around the slide of the US economy and bring it out of the abyss where it was plunged by Bush.
Habibur Rahman
Malibagh, Dhaka