OPINION> Commentary
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OPINION> Commentary
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Bush displays no regret in Iraq visit
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-18 07:47 US President George W. Bush's visit to Baghdad on Sunday should have been used to make an apology to the people of Iraq, the taxpayers of his own country, and the allies that sent soldiers to a war that will go down as one of the most unnecessary in history. He could have drawn some consolation from the fact that his aircraft could touch down at Baghdad International Airport in broad daylight and his motorcade could move across the Tigris River on visits to Iraqi leaders, but even that was marred by the embarrassment of an Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at Bush during a press conference. Over the past five years and nine months since Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq, some 4,200 US troops have been killed - at least four times more than the figure that Pentagon strategists expected - an uncountable number of Iraqi civilians and security personnel have perished, and more than $560 billion in US taxpayer money has been spent supporting the campaign, a campaign many Americans did not support from the beginning.
In a recent interview, Bush admitted that the "biggest regret" of his presidency was the flawed intelligence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, which was used as a key justification for going to war. Still, few in the outgoing US administration are openly acknowledging their hidden motives for the war, which everyone knows were to seize the vast oil resources and bolster US influence in the Middle East. The US has suffered dearly for the mistake and is about to close the chapter under a different administration. It is hoped the exit of US forces over the next three years - or in a shorter period, as President-elect Barack Obama has pledged - will be made without endangering Iraqi security. The Korea Herald/Asia News Network (China Daily 12/18/2008 page10) |
