Bush’s Legacy: Waging Preventive War in Iraq

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the fallacy of the Bush Doctrine, elaborated by Condi Rice before the invasion and founded on failed state and non state threat theories of her associate Stephen Krasner and others, is that it renamed a preventive war not a war. As we have seen, the loss of coalition and civilian life, and the displacement of millions from Iraq, at the cost of a trillion dollars, is a war. True, Bush tried to fool us by saying we didn't have to pay for the democracy by invasion effort, and he avoided the large scale call up of forces that might have required a draft by hiring contractors in more than equal numbers to our troops. And he regularly misled us about the progress of the war, or called it something it was not, part of a global effort to stop terrorists. There might be a place for preventive military actions--think of Israel in 1967-- but a preventive war is a logical contraction. A preventive strike does not lead to extended occupation or adminstration of the country, or even necessarily to regime change. It is about eliminating a threat, not pursuing an ideology informed by boundless and unjustified ego. If Bush were smarter, he might have understood that starting a war to prevent a war leaves you in the middle of a war. That he apparently did not, and instead preeened before the "Mission Accomplished" banner is unforgivable and unforgettable, and will become the most lasting image of his failed presidency.

dwmulenex of GA 8:46AM December 10, 2008

I don’t think this right by saying it was Preventive War.
Iraq had have no threat whatsoever for US, after 1991 and 13 years of sanction all official from UN and other reach that the regime was weak and lost support of Iraqi.
Even those who worked for regime for long time they find their way out or flee the regime or the country in different ways.
So there was no threat to start Preventive War against Iraq.
In fact S. Korea was and still more threat to US than Iraq.
But this manipulations and propaganda used to take over Iraq and invaded and control most corrupted and failed state till now.

J. Hoover of IA 9:37PM December 09, 2008

George W. Bush has been immature and reckless in his use of executive power. The Iraq War is his most obvious transgression. His propensity to act outside domestic and international law, as evidenced by his administration's willingness to torture, engage in domestic spying outside the courts, and advocate for the suspension of habeas corpus have significantly threatened our democracy. His pursuit of greater executive power in time of national strife is a textbook example of how dictators come to power.
President Bush is probably the most dangerous politician, next to Joseph McCarthy, that has been elected to national office in the last 70 years. As it did for Joseph McCarthy, the Republican Party accommodated Bush for far far too long.
Our constitution, which establishes three branches of government, was designed so that the union could, in high probability, survive a president like President George W. Bush. We will know, for sure, on January 20, 2009 if it has.

RR of ME 7:41PM December 09, 2008

The war in in my opinion was a sound idea based on the intelligence we had at that time but it was very poorly executed in the early years. I think many of the tactics we have used successfully of late are things we should have known to do right from the start.

Scott of MN 6:12PM December 09, 2008