The much-vilified invasion of Iraq has failed to yield any weapons of mass destruction or to quickly and easily install the democratic government that President Bush hoped would replace Saddam Hussein's regime. This has led to increased calls for the troops to be removed from Iraq, leaving the Iraqis to their own devices.
Why, then, does President Bush deserve credit for persevering?
Democracy has begun its slow spread through the Middle East. Egypt, Lebanon and -- to a lesser extent -- Saudi Arabia have made key steps toward a democratic government, according to Guardian Unlimited. Lebanon has finally broken free of Syria's puppet-like hold on its government. For the first time in recorded history, Middle Eastern countries are making a transition to democracy -- which proves that, unlike the belief that my liberal classmates bombarded me with, America does not need to invade every non-democratic country in the world in order to spread democracy.
This slow penetration of democracy in the region has even led Newsweek -- a magazine that described President Bush's re-election as "confounding" in its 2004 year-end issue -- to run a cover story that read "Where Bush Was Right," giving Bush some well-deserved credit for correctly realizing that if oppressed Arabs saw freedom in their region, they would begin to make strides toward it as well.
Two weeks later, Newsweek said in their Letters section that their readers had "overwhelmingly objected to giving Bush the credit" for democracy in the Middle East. One reader stated that "Bush has nothing to do with Arab courage," while another said that "democracy is not due to Bush's foresight ... it is only a convenient excuse." Yet another cited a "study" that claims that the risk of violent death in Iraq today is 58 times what it was during Hussein's regime. This same study, according to the New York Times, estimates the civilian death toll in Iraq at over 100,000, despite the fact that the official civilian death count according to the media, as of November of last year (when the study came out), was at 17,000. By Johns Hopkins University's own admission, basically all the data for the study came from interviews with Iraqi families and not from any actual statistical measure.
It is true that the president did not talk much about the actual installation of democracy in Iraq as the main goal of the war before it began. It is, however, the reason we remain in Iraq today, not, as protesters profiled in last Monday's Daily News claimed, for oil. (Lord knows, if we were in it for oil, maybe gas prices wouldn't be so high.)
There is no doubt that Bush has made some mistakes as president. The social security system is in trouble; the nation's debt is rising; health care needs improvement. However, when our president does something right, he needs to be properly credited, as in the case of the Middle East. In installing fair governments in the Middle East, America is working toward the ultimate goal of making the world a safer place. We still have a long way to go, but the progress has been heartening so far.
Write to Andy at
ndistops@hotmail.com
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
