George W. Bush and Iraq

Here is my latest column:

George W. Bush and Iraq
By Doug Kellett


I’ve often wondered if President George W. Bush’s approval rating leaving office would be much higher if he had presented the Iraqi invasion differently to the American people.

Prior to the invasion, I was often on the radio debating the pros about the elimination of Sadaam Hussein as Iraqi leader and concern that the leader might work with terrorists on weapons of mass destruction.

On numerous shows, I had Col. David Hackworth as guest to debate the administration strategy. Col. Hackworth and my self had become good friends through our interviews. At the time, Col. Hackworth was the most decorated living American through his service in the Vietnam War.

I thought wise to hear his point of view from an individual who dodged real bullets on a battlefield but also who was an experienced military observer through his national column.

Based on his knowledge and experience, Col. Hackworth argued against the Bush policy of going into Iraq and many of his concerns turned out to be reality. Much of his concern centered on whether the U.S. military should be in the business of constructing a democracy in the Middle East. Something Col. Hackworth didn’t think was possible and saw only pitfalls.

Me, I took the more aggressive opinion accepting the belief that the threat of a Hussein-Al Qaeda connection was too great to ignore. Since the Clinton Administration had worked to indict Osama Ben Laden on weapons development with Iraq, I saw it no stretch to believe that was likely.

However, during our discussions, I kept saying that I believed the administration was putting way too much emphasis on the WMD argument. The reason for invading Iraq was greater than only focusing the public attention on the WMD.

I further commented at the time that “I sure hope we find weapons of mass destruction because if we don’t, it is going to be a major problem for the administration.” Now, of course we certainly know how true that is.

Would President Bush’s approval ratings be higher if he had used the more pressing approach? In his famous “Axis of Evil” speech, President Bush detailed a new doctrine that would define his Presidency. “We cannot wait until the threat is imminent…” the President said. In other words, the world we live in after 911 is so dangerous, that America no longer had the luxury to wait until the threat is right upon us. Terrorists do not necessarily signal their intention as a nation-state might. Plus, President Bush reasoned, the deadly material possibly available to terrorists heightened this threat.

I believe had the administration focused more on this issue, we might not have seen much of the erosion of support we saw. Critics could easily argue that since WMD were not found in the “stockpile” variety we expected, then there was never a threat. When in reality, the threat is that we “could not wait” until there is a threat.

President Bush had all the ammo he really needed at the time and that was the devastating results of 911. Had the administration not gotten bogged down with WMD and nation building afterward, perhaps the American people would have agreed with his policy to eliminate any threat. After all, if a bad guy is about to shoot your wife, you don’t wait until he pulls the trigger to try and stop him. That was the simple self-defense policy George Bush was adhering too. He just failed to emphasize it.

One thing I have learned as a member of the media. To make a point you need first to make it. Then make it again. Then repeat it and after you have made it, tell them you made it. In other words, repetition is your friend.

While this would not have solved the complex issues that is current day Iraq and the global war on terrorism, it might have aided the President in some goodwill with the American people. That way he might not have to wait for future historians to receive appreciation for working to eliminate the global terror threat.


Doug Kellett is known as “America’s Fill-in Talk Show Host” and is often heard on stations like WBT/Charlotte, WLAC/Nashville, WOAI/San Antonio, KTRH/Houston, KPAM/Portland and many others. He has over 25 years of broadcast journalism experience.


Responses:

Erik--

read the column....good points....he really looked bad on the WMD deal and never should have said: "Mission Accomplished," that was a huge mistake. I think President Bush is a good guy even though I wasn't pleased with how soft he was on illegal immigration and I don't like how he has fought against helping America's farmers. However, he did protect this country from another terrorist attack after 9/11 and I feel he had good intentions. I think when Barack Obama takes the oath of office tomorrow, we'll be less safe because I think he's more interested in negotiating with terrorist states like Iran and more worred abou the feelings of terrorists than he is about our national security. Only time will tell.....let's hope that we can stay as intact as we possibly can.