Recently I found Time Magazine’s “100: The Most Influential People in The World” in the library and decided to go through the list. One article was on the U.S. President George W. Bush. It wasn’t so much about the man on whom the short essay was written, but, by whom. Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister of Italy was the man given the honor to praise George W. Bush. Berlusconi writes:
There was a genuine atmosphere of trust and goodwill that summer of 2001, when a new era seemed to be upon us, with the Berlin Wall gone and the divisions of the past overcome. I was sharing this thought with President Bush (both of us recently elected to lead our countries) at the closing dinner of the G-8 summit in Genoa in July 2001. Bush led the conversation, talking amiably with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japanese Premier Junichiro Koizumi, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, the tragedies of the Second World War and cold war seemed far away indeed. Bush observed how much the world had changed, and how we could pass on a lasting peace to our children. I remember feeling true happiness inside me. Just two months later the unthinkable happened, and the Sept. 11 attacks would again forever change the world. The battle against terrorism would become the principal preoccupation of the American President and our common international priority.
In the months that followed that immense tragedy, we nontheless tried to stay focus, aware that justice, freedom and democracy can flourish only if there is security. President Bush knows this well, that a secure world is bound to be a united world, where everyone–and particularly those more fortunate–can and must do their part.
George W. Bush, 61, will be remembered as Commander in Chief, but not only for that. He was above all a President who felt the moral obligation that the leading nation of the free world must carry. My thoughts return again to that G-8 summit, where Italy had brought to the top of the agenda the fate of the world’s poorest nations. And Bush was an early and enthusiastic supporter of our initiatives to establish a fund for combating endemic illnesses.
One time, Bush told me that it is reasonable to have doubts, but not to have so many doubts that you cannot make a decision. It’s up to the historians to judge his presidency, but, whatever fate history holds for him, I’m sure that George W. Bush will be remembered as a leader of ideals, courage and sincerity. Personally, I will always remember him as a friend, a true man who loves his family, understands the meaning of friendship and is grateful toward America’s allies around the world.
Prime Minister Berlusconi failed to do his study before praising Bush. Bush never believed in “democracy, justice, freedom” or “security.” He fired the Generals who said it will require 700,000 troops to secure a nation of 26 million once the invasion was complete; fearing regional conflicts that may erupt once Saddam was overthrown. President Bush’s problem, just like Berlusconi’s, is that he is a sentimentalist, and not a realist. Paul Wolfowitz back in the days, during the Iraq war, said that it’s only a matter of days before Iraqis name one of their major public squares in Baghdad after President Bush.
President Bush also wastes too much time “searching” the “souls” of other world leaders by looking into their eyes, and I don’t know how he goes about his “searching,” but he’s good at finding them. Just like he looked into the eyes of Vladimir Putin when both first met, and was able to “get the sense of his soul.” And, we all can see now that it wasn’t so. President Bush also talks to “God” and it was “God” who wanted him to run for the Presidency of the United States and have too much “Optimism” and is surrounded by homophobes, fear and warmongers as well as those who’re very busy making predictions that one day there will be no difference between Paris and Baghdad when it comes to “freedom,” ignoring the fact that dream of a “democratic” middle east died long ago when President Bush pooped on it by invading Iraq.
President Bush, unlike what Mr. Berlusconi writes, was never “grateful toward America’s allies around the world.” Mr. Bush used all alliances of America around the world as “marriages of convenience,” not as true alliances where all future actions to be taken are carefully evaluated and discussed in a civilized manner. Either PM Berlusconi’s ignoring the facts on purpose or didn’t read the news at the time when France and Germany, the only two nations in the EU brave enough stand up against the invasion of Iraq were shunned as “the Old Europe” by President Bush’s administration. Remember the remarks made by then U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld? “Germany has been a problem and France has been a problem… But, you look at a vast numbers of other countries in Europe, they’re not with France and Germany… they’re with the US… You’re thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don’t… I think that’s the Old Europe.” As it turned out in the end, those tiny ant-sized nations that were “with the US” were greedy enough to fall into the trap set by Bush Administration with false promises: You give us troops for Iraq, and we’ll grant your poor population of migrant workers visas to work in the United States. As it turned out within a year, the promise was never fulfilled, and all nations that were “with the USA” were pulling out of Iraq.
America’s headed toward a recession in full speed, and President Bush’s economic policy of “do nothing” is identical to what Mr. Berlusconi has implemented in Italy. When asked during a televised interview with voters by a young woman what the younger generation should do about the lack of secure jobs, the answer of the Prime Minister was that she “try to marry the son of Berlusconi… with a smile that you have, you could try.” Results of the actions and remarks of the Italian clown are clearly reflected by the current state of the republic he was elected and then reelected to lead: almost all big businesses in Italy are influenced by the mob activity, failing education, stagnant economy, high unemployment rate, and a siesta that lasts an entire day because there’s nothing else left to do in the country… other than to watch cities like Venice sink, thanks to Berlusconi’s support for a disaster called George W. Bush who’ve contributed more to increase global warming than any other world leader.
There should be no argument on what fate history holds for President Bush. History is out on his presidency. It’ll be remembered as a reign full of fear mongering, tortures, disappearances, hypocrisy, lies, deception, abuse of presidential power, destruction of civil liberties and the nation’s principles, and sacrificing the futures of the current and future generation of America for his own personal greed and ego.
One should know that the fact that Bush “loves his family” does not make him a better Commander in Chief. He doesn’t understand the meaning of “true friendship” as far as you can see from the “Old Europe” comments. And, maybe President Bush should have tried to have some doubts about his own actions. Maybe part of the reason why we as a nation are in such a deep trouble is because the man have too few doubts.
Top 100 most influential people’s list should be prepared, and articles on the reasons why those individuals influence our lives should be written by independent, unrelated historians, major public figures, or chief editors working for the magazines who have a proven track record of independent or opposing views. What kind of news organization would believe that allowing one moron to write an essay on another will not be biased?
Time Magazine should have seen it coming when it asked Berlusconi to write about Bush.
