Bush’s
politics interfere with policy
Barlas
F. Esin - Unsystematic
Ideas
What resides in any given politician, as
Nietzsche said, is his or her “will to power”
— the desire to gain and maintain control.
George W. Bush is no exception. Especially
amidst his enthusiasm to attack Saddam Hussein
and the Iraqi government, I feel it is necessary
to evaluate the political nature of our
president — good and bad — for understanding
the motives behind his actions.
Bush,
like countless political leaders before
him, has an innate disposition for politics.
He enjoys the status of being president,
since his father was a former president.
He is also coming from a family that has
been an economic force in Texas and the
Unites States. Bush, therefore, wants to
preserve the powerful genealogy of his family
background.
Bush
is also able to compensate for public resentment
through his charisma. His charisma precedes
his speeches, meaning that he is able to
alter the perceptions and beliefs of the
general public through his assertive and
persuasive speaking style. He has the authority
to motivate people — both within the cabinet
and among the public — for supporting his
decisions. He is able to influence policies
through his keen determination and strong
emotional appeal.
Bush,
however, lacks two fundamental qualities
required of a good politician: honesty and
competence.
If
Bush were honest enough to realize the importance
of his decisions for the future tranquility
of this nation — and the rest of the world
— he would resort to more preemptive alternatives,
instead of encouraging a war against Iraq.
The United Nations and the majority of European
countries are supporting a more peaceful
strategy, such as sending inspectors to
detect and then, if necessary, dispose of
nuclear and chemical arms. Bush, however,
is blindly ignoring such a scenario.
He
is also an incompetent president, because
if he were competent, he would not risk
the lives of thousands of young American
teenagers for a cause that has no intrinsic
value. The motive behind Bush’s decisions
seems to be egocentric. He thinks that the
entire world revolves around the United
States, instead of realizing that the rest
of the world has its own problems to deal
with.
It
simply seems to be politically beneficial
at the moment for the Bush administration
to ring the bells of war before the election
season. This way, the administration is
hoping the people will ignore the issues
surrounding the nation, such as unemployment
growth, corporate corruption, the stock
market and the economy. Moreover, many Republican
politicians have close ties to oil companies,
including Bush, so these lifetime relationships
give them a certain kind of perspective
on the Middle East — one that is based on
economy.
It
is a well-known fact that Hussein is a gruesome
tyrant along the likes of Hitler and Stalin.
His policies have been responsible for the
deaths of thousands of people, if not millions.
Nevertheless, Hussein is aware of the harsh
consequences of the Persian Gulf War and
the U.N. sanctions that followed, which
severely curtailed his abilities to obtain
and develop chemical and nuclear arms —
let alone use them. He is, therefore, fearful
and cautious of the United States and the
United Nations.
The
Bush administration, instead of caring for
the freedom of the Iraqi people, seems to
care solely for the oil. Bush knows that
during the war, Iraq will not be able to
export its oil. So, by the end of the war,
after Hussein’s regime is hopefully taken
down and a new pro-U.S. government is formed,
Iraq will export its overpopulated oil stash
for lower prices, in hopes of getting rid
of the extra oil. Bush believes that this
will decline the oil prices in the United
States — thus boosting his reputation.
As
a general public, we need to remember that
Bush is a political leader driven only by
his will to power. He is not an honest and
competent president, because by pointing
to war as the only necessary solution while
there are less aggressive measures, he is
trying to deceive people away from truth.
He is trying to make wrong seem right and
unimportant appear important.
Since
people are the backbones of a nation, we
— as the people of the United States — need
to transform Bush’s irrational political
agenda through our insistence in knowing
the truth and doing the rational.
Barlas
F. Esin is a journalism major and a philosophy
minor. He can be reached besin@csulb.edu
|
