Don't Blame Bush

Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams recently made headlines by saying "I could kill George Bush!". Aside from the fact that murder threats are evil and not what you expect from someone who won a Nobel Peace Prize, Ms. Williams' expression of hatred exemplifies a major flaw in the Bush-hating crowd.

The flaw is the failure to recognize that Bush is one man, and is not himself to blame for whatever calamity that brewed Williams' hate for him. Sure, Bush is powerful, but events like the Iraq War, for instance, have been projects in place for some time. The set up for the war was of course, the First Gulf War waged by Bush's father and Clinton's periodic bombing of the country.

Also, if you want to discuss the monarchical manner in which the war in Iraq was commenced (with which Congress complied), it may be useful to note that Clinton showed even more disregard for restraint when he decided to wage a war of choice against the Serbs in 1999. Bush, in all his faults, at least asked for Congress to abdicate its war-making authority before attacking Iraq.

The Imperial Presidency that led to this war and any other policies that Ms. Williams hates have been in the works for a long time, well before the current Bush was even thought of.

The problem is a lot bigger than Bush, and for the most part, it seems that most don't realize it. Unfortunately, that means that once Bush leaves office, we're likely to see more of the same.