George Bush commemorated his first term as the US president of war. The intensity of the US-Iraq war would continue in his second term in office amid disapproval from citizens of the United States. However, history does not place George Bush as the first warring president of the United States of America. Some other incumbent has sought re-election amid war. It is known that the Korean War may have informed the decision of President Harry Truman not to seek his second term in office in 1952. This was further evident from the fact that 1968 Vietnam War that led to sharp division both within his party ranks and the public hugely influence Lyndon Johnson non-participation in his re-election bid. President Bush has largely been accused of failing to learn from the history of the president. Book Folly of empire places scenarios to this effect
Lessons from Asia- Palestine
Against advice from the secret service, in October 2003, President Bush set on a journey to The Philippines with a view of preaching the American democratic ways to Asia. This was done with the view that the Philippines and Thailand were strategically positioned to assert American influence on the Asian continent. The event that took place was contrary to the expectations. For instance, Bush lecture at the legislative assembly in the Philippines had to be delayed for more than an hour amid protests from the members of the public. Filipinos were of the view that American democratic tendencies were skewed and only suit to serve her interest alone (Burton, 2015).
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According to the book, President Bush may have failed to learn from the American historical relation with The Philippines. It is well documented that the America- Philippines relationship has not been cordial for more than a century. In the 1898 war, the US Admiral George Dewey is credited to have ousted Spain from the Asian Nation (Burton, 2015). Instead, the then President William McKinley placing systems that would advocate for democracy in the state, he installed an imperial dictatorial American dictatorial administrator on the nation. America is further documented to have fought against The Philippines independence from Spain. Deployment of over 120,000 US. Soldiers to the Philippines resulted in the death of more than 200,000 Filipinos and more than 4,000 soldiers (Burton, 2015). The 1898 American action on the Philippines should have informed George Bush’s visit and some of the ideals that he went to teach the Filipinos. Later on, President Theodore Roosevelt affirmed that it was a grave mistake for America to have invaded the Philippines. On this account, the George Bush the second’s message to Filipino at the height of his presidency should have been a reconciliatory tone not an assertion of American imperialism further denting their relationship.
The Iraq War
Was the Iraq war necessary? That is the question that many Americans have been asking since the Gulf War II. To many it was a war that saw the country’s debt rise, the pride dented, and lives lost as many children were orphaned. The Bush administration’s view of the war paint’s a different story to this effect. To the administration, it was an assertion of American policy on Iraq with disregard to important lessons from history. Bush administration failed in the invasion of Iraq and their subsequent quest to transform the Asia continent. According to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, the US-Spanish war of 1890 was supposed to be a turning point to the nation's involvement in foreign antagonism (Burton, 2015). The Spanish war isolated the United States from the rest of the world. The bitter lessons from the wars were not to be repeated.
According to the United States doctrines, the nation stood against any ill-informed move to extend her dominance beyond American borders. The war on Iraq revealed American imperialism to the world in line with the views that and McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt held during his time. In light of this, imperialism is viewed as a way of bolstering her military prowess. Additionally, the two former presidents viewed it as a way of extending the American culture to their subjects. Ironically, their view of dominance on other nations largely failed. Before he became president, he supported American dominance in other nations. However, this largely waned with his assumption of office. He views against dominating other nation saw the nation become a lead mediator in quest self-governance of nations for world’s prosperity.
During the world war, President Wilson showed disregard to militant and oppressive regimes that were used by the German (Burton, 2015). He viewed it as a politic that was so hard to sustain. He further suggested that future wars could only be prevented by destroying the militant structure of governance. At the time of the War, America was seen to spearhead the mediation processes. Wilson laid up a foundation that would ensure multilateral world cooperation. Some of the notable changes to this effect were encouraged to trade systems. These views, however, was not considered by the Bush administration in their war against Iraq. America chose to assert her militant dominance on Spain a move that bore very little with regards to improved international cooperation.
In summary, the Bush administration like any other may have had their policies and wishes they needed to be fulfilled to the American people. However, the administration missed valuable opportunities in some of the strategic decision that it made. For instance, the war on Iraq and his move to impose imperial democracy put much focus on his alignment with historical events that have happened to America over the years.
Reference
Burton, A. (2015). The Folly of Empire. Foreign Affairs .
