In 1998 or 1999, George W. Bush, planning to run for president, candidly told a reporter he wanted to be a war president, because war presidents have a large boost to their support and power.
Unstated, but likely on his mind, was the history of his father’s presidency, when Bush 41 got huge approval ratings from the first Iraq war — then he ended the war and lost the election.
We should have listened, but that interview went unnoticed.
I was just reading reporting on trump’s CIA speech, and saw this sentence quietly included:
And he said about Iraq, "We should have kept the oil. Maybe we'll have another chance."
Whoa.
This is the new president saying two incredible things — dangerous things, wrong things. Alarm bells should be going off.
First, why in the hell were we entitled to keep Iraq’s oil? It’s their oil. There’s a reason there are jokes about Bush saying a mistake was made when our oil was put in their ground.
That’s called theft, imperialism, misuse of military might, oppression. And that’s just if it were not the dominant resource for the country’s economy — it is.
Even the Bush corrupt right-wing radicals did not advocate that level of theft, merely ensuring the oil went into the ‘free market’ where American companies could share in the profits.
But here’s trump happily blathering that it was a mistake to let Iraq keep their oil and we should have stolen it. What does that say about his attitudes about abuse of power?
That should be front page news.
And then there’s in just eleven words.
He HINTS THAT MAYBE WE’LL START ANOTHER ILLEGAL WAR WITH IRAQ!?!?
Sorry, let me add, “!?!?!?”
Has his hyperbole neutered the media and broken out outrage meter so badly now we just ignore that statement? Imagine any other president after Bush saying it.
The country should be rather up in arms to DEMAND he be confronted about that little nugget dropped. They say what a president says matters — apparently not now.
There seems to just be a sort of shock reaction. Oh, the Iraq war even the Republicans no longer defend, that trump criticized, that NO ONE has suggested be repeated — he just did.
Pin drop.
What the hell.
I guess we’re now just ignoring what he says?