10, December 2018 President ‘41 George
Herbert Walker Bush
The 41st President H.W. Bush has been lionized
by the media in wall to wall coverage
espousing his professional skills and high moral character. If one
compares him to the present occupant of the White House, this is certainly a
true statement. He also deserved credit for standing up to the NRA
and AIPAC. However,
to make a better assessment of his contributions to America and the world, we
need to drill deeper into his presidency.
The following is a brief history of ‘41.
INVASION OF PANAMA
In late 1989, ‘41 ordered the invasion of Panama to
arrest its leader, General Noriega, on charges of drug trafficking. This was the same man who was formerly on the
CIA payroll. In a classic overkill, the U.S. unleashed 24,000 troops equipped
with highly sophisticated weaponry and aircraft against a country with an army
smaller than the New York City Police Department. An estimated 3,000
Panamanians died in the attack. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
called on Washington to pay massive reparations to Panama for its illegal
invasion.
WAR ON DRUGS
During his tenure 41’ dramatically launched a war on
drugs laced with overt racism. In a
carefully orchestrated media blitz, ’41 held up a bag of cocaine which he
claimed was found just outside the White House, a visual prop, orchestrated by
US federal agents! Mass incarceration followed disproportionately, impacting young black
men. Republicans like Rand Paul, and
Chris Christie later admitted that the drug war was an utter failure.
USING RACISM TO WIN THE WHITE HOUSE
In the brutal presidential campaign of 1988, ‘41
used an appalling racist ad. depicting his rival, Dukakis to be weak on crime
and responsible for the brutal rape and murder by Willie Horton while he was furloughed
from prison. Lee Atwater, a top aide to ’41,
apologized on his deathbed for the racist ad. which catapulted ’41 to the White
House. It was considered to be the most racist ad, in US history.
CLIMATE CHANGE & THE SUPRME COURT
‘41was dismissive on the impact of climate change,
famously saying, “The American way of life is not up for negotiation.” He
nominated Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas even after Thomas was accused
of sexual harassment by Anita Hill.
INVASION OF IRAQ
In August 2000 Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait
illegally, in violation of international law. What is generally unknown is
‘41’s US ambassador to Kuwait. Glaspie told Saddam Hussein just weeks before
the invasion, that America had no strong opinion on his border dispute with
Kuwait. This was interpreted by Hussein as a green light for the invasion. But
following the invasion, ’41 changed his mind claiming America’s intervention
was necessary to defend Saudi Arabia. This proved to be totally false. Many of
’41 political detractors believed the invasion was meticulously choreographed
to enhance ‘41’s reelection prospects.
To justify
the invasion, the ’41 team launched a massive propaganda effort to win over
hearts and minds to make them feel good about the “shock and awe” which was to
follow demonstrating US military might.
The pièce de résistance.
was led by General Schwarzkopf, CENTCOM, Pete
Williams of the Pentagon and the Bush administration. A staged weeping Kuwaiti, NAYIRAH AL-SABAH, appeared on all the major
networks claiming that Saddam’s troops had thrown out babies from incubators.
It turned out the young girl, SABAH, was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador
who had been coached by the US public relations firm, Hill & Knowlton, who were
working for the Kuwaiti government. The propaganda was so effective that even Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch believed the fictional tale and repeated
the false story.
IRANGATE
In one of ’41 final act, he granted pardons to six
former Reagan officials who were involved in the Iran-Contra scandal, when the
Reagan administration secretly sold arms to Iran to raise money for the
Nicaraguan Contras ignoring a congressional ban on providing aid to the Contras
in Nicaragua. This was the most egregious scandal in US history. It is sad
commentary that Reagan escaped impeachment for aiding and abetting a foreign
adversary. Bush escaped liability for his role in the pardons scandal, claiming
he was “out of the loop,” even though other participants and a paper trail
suggested he was lying. So much for the media’s depiction of a “thoroughly decent man who
believed in civility who did not believe in rancor who wanted, to unify all
Americans,” RIP.
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