Opinion of George W. Bush's foreign policy

[President Johnson]

Since we're at this, I wonder how bad Dubya will do here.

Obviously, massive HP. The foreign policy of his administration was a complete disaster and a failure pretty much across the board. Especially the war in Iraq. Still kind of odd he ran in 2000 in opposition to "nation building" and foreign entanglements.

[DaleCooper]

George W Bush will go down as one of the most catastrophic American figures in human history. More than Trump, easily.

[Progressive Pessimist]

The worst. He destabilized the world, just about.

[Independents for Nihilism]

I'm one of those horrible "FF as a person, HP as a president" people when it comes to Dubya. I just can't hate a guy who can pull off an unironically Chad move like this:

Maybe that's why I long for a competent neocon who isn't able to destabilize entire regions of the world willy-nilly.

[progressive85]

We tried very hard in Afghanistan.  What happened there in 2021 was very painful for our country to watch because of all of our soldiers that had died there over the years, and all that we had put into that fight.  It was a worthy cause... but for now, we lost the battle.  That the Taliban is back in control of it is heartbreaking.

I throw my hands up about it all.

I try to be fair in analyzing George W. Bush's record, but it doesn't look good from the point of view of 2024, not at all.  I do believe that he truly felt he was doing as good a job as he could in keeping the country safe when it came to the homeland, but then again, that was his job - he wanted the responsibility and that's part of the job.

I would have not gone to Iraq until Osama bin Laden was killed and Al Qaeda was eliminated.  I don't object to the invasion of Iraq, but there was already another war and I believe that we needed to fight that one first with all our might.

Our soldiers certainly did everything they could in this fight, but it was going to always be a "long fight".  I don't agree at all with leaving Afghanistan, I think it will turn out to be a mistake in the long run to let go and allow the Taliban free rein to take the country back to where it once was.

We gave it all we could, these were long wars.

One thing is for sure: our soldiers did everything asked of them, and they deserve the nation's gratitude and also admiration.  Many of them, those that came home, are still struggling, and I hope they are receiving the best care right now.  I know several veterans - they have PTSD, and are now part of the mental health community and are differently abled (in wheelchairs), and all of that.  And I always believe what they did must be respected.  They believed in the mission, they joined the military to protect the United States, and they showed tremendous devotion to our country.

[SWE]

Irredeemably evil

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

Less remembered but also horrible was W. Bush abrogated the deal Clinton had successfully negotiated with North Korea. Of course, the warmongering foreign policy establishment laughs at these sorts of agreements, so the mainstream media that mindlessly listens to the foreign policy establishment didn't take it seriously either, but there are articles in the alternative left wing press (like The Guardian) of how after North Korea announced that it was resuming nuclear testing and after people like Rumsfailed was fired and Cheney was sidelined, that W. Bush desperately tried to get North Korea back in to the agreement negotiated by Clinton.

This is actually not different from when Obama negotiated an agreement with Iran complete with inspections (as was the case Clinton negotiated with North Korea) how the foreign policy establishment mindlessly quoted by the mainstream media illogically argued that this agreement made it more likely that Iran would develop a nuclear weapon.

And finally, of course, Trump abrogated this agreement as W. Bush had done previously with the agreement with North Korea. However, at least W. Bush had the good graces to not demand that Iran keep its part of the abrogated agreement.

[Mr. Smith]

Most HP, though the next Trump admin could undo this.

PEPFAR is still nobler than anything Trump or Clinton did afaik. Too bad that's a footnote.

[Reactionary Libertarian]

Dubya was also the genius who came up with the idea of independent Palestinian elections that led to Hamas taking over the Strip. It’s incredible how, even when you exclude 9/11, Iraq, and Afghanistan, W is still a foreign policy disaster.

[jaichind]

A disaster.  It is because of him I stopped voting GOP in the 2003-2008 period.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

A failure so astonishing, arguably all three of his predecessors have failed on the basis they were unable to escape the damage he (and Cheney/rumsfeld/rice/bremer etc) wrought.

[HillGoose]

Freedom policy, the best the USA has ever had, liberating MILLIONS from theocracy and dictatorship!

[OSR stands with Israel]

I saw a clip from 2001 where neocons believed the west collectively  had to take out the governments of Iraq , Syria , Lebonan and Iran all at once so things could have been worse

[HillGoose]

I saw a clip from 2001 where neocons believed the west collectively  had to take out the governments of Iraq , Syria , Lebonan and Iran all at once so things could have been worse

things would have been better if they had and democracy would have had a much easier time taking hold

[dw93]

Horrible. Worse than Trump's, abet for different reasons.

[Sir Mohamed]

Major HP.

Unless troll votes, it's beyond my comprehension this isn't an unanimous vote.

[John Dule]

The single reason why I will always be more sympathetic to the Democrats than the Republicans.

[Sir Mohamed]

The single reason why I will always be more sympathetic to the Democrats than the Republicans.

Do you think that in the long run W inflicted more damage on America than Trump?

[John Dule]

The single reason why I will always be more sympathetic to the Democrats than the Republicans.

Do you think that in the long run W inflicted more damage on America than Trump?

That remains to be seen. I think Trump is more symptomatic of general moral and institutional rot in this country than Bush was, so if Trump did not come around, something similar to his movement would likely arise at some point anyway. Bush's errors were more unforced and much more serious.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Never trust a President with 90 percent approval ratings.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

HP

[DaleCooper]

The single reason why I will always be more sympathetic to the Democrats than the Republicans.

Do you think that in the long run W inflicted more damage on America than Trump?

That remains to be seen. I think Trump is more symptomatic of general moral and institutional rot in this country than Bush was, so if Trump did not come around, something similar to his movement would likely arise at some point anyway. Bush's errors were more unforced and much more serious.

It all comes down to what a potential second Trump term would look like. If he loses in 2024, it's very hard for me to imagine him being viewed as negatively as Bush once we get 100 or 200 years into the future. Humanity will probably still be suffering the consequences of Dubya's presidency centuries after we're dead.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I’m not sure I’d call malicious and willful destruction “foreign policy” but whatever it was exactly, it wasn’t good. Easily the worst President of all time. The Middle East was f**ked before Bush, but Dubya sealed its fate for good.

Anyone who thinks Trump was worse in any category is a bad person.

[OSR stands with Israel]

I’m not sure I’d call malicious and willful destruction “foreign policy” but whatever it was exactly, it wasn’t good. Easily the worst President of all time. The Middle East was f**ked before Bush, but Dubya sealed its fate for good.

Anyone who thinks Trump was worse in any category is a bad person.

Bush isn’t worse than Buchanan

[Lambsbread]

I tend not to be a fan of war crimes.