Bush’s final year

 

What should we expect from George W. Bush in the final year of his administration?

Bush seems to be worried about what he calls his legacy, and he should be worried because he has made a major mess of things.

President Bush just finished a trip to the Middle East, where he tried to jump start an initiative to settle the decades-old squabble between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Road Map to Peace, as he calls it, he first brought to the table in June of 2002, and then he pretty much dropped all focus on his plan until this trip.

 

But to be fair to Bush, seven presidents before him have tried to bring peace to the Middle East, so he may not want to be counting on that being his legacy.

Former President Clinton was able to include a balanced budget and a surplus as part of his legacy, but Bush will not be able to make any such claim. Bush has created the largest deficit in the history of our nation, and he has created the largest trade deficit in the history of our nation. So, this, too, is an area in which Bush will not find an upbeat legacy.

 

President Bush certainly will have his legacy tied into his War on Terror; he certainly will want to see 2008 as the year his wars in Afghanistan and Iraq start to show some positive returns. The surge in Iraq has cut down on some of the violence, but the Iraqi government has not been as successful as the surge.

In fact the surge was meant to allow breathing room for the Iraqi government to pull their country together, but that is not happening, or at least not yet.

President Bush has said on several occasions that it will be up to the next president to decide what direction to take his wars after he leaves office, so he’s counting on the next president to fix up his follies in Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

Cheney said that by the middle of January 2009, it will be clear that “we have in fact achieved our objective in terms of having a self-governing Iraq that’s capable for the most part of defending themselves; a democracy in the heart of the Middle East; a nation that will be a positive force in influencing the world around it in the future.”

 

Gee, it sure was a gutsy call by Vice President Dick Cheney to make such a bold prediction.

The day he and Bush leave office is the day the Iraqi government takes control of their country. Since Cheney is batting a thousand on his previous predictions, I’m guessing that he will keep his streak alive.

So what can we, the people, expect from Bush in this final year? What will Bush see as his best chance for a legacy?

 

I’m sure we can expect Bush to keep up the pressure with the troop surge in Iraq through most of, if not all of, 2008. We can expect Bush to use his veto pen on more legislation from congress if he doesn’t get his way.

It is clear that Bush has placed all of his eggs in one basket, the War on Terror, and how this plays out over the years to come will shape the legacy of George W. Bush.

For me, personally, I see Bush as the 43rd best President ever.