George Bush's Memoirs

[immense]

It is published in the US tomorrow but The Guardian obtained a copy before any other media outlet. Goes on about how he planned military action on Syria and Iran.


In the memoirs Bush:

• Describes Tony Blair as his closest foreign ally.

• Admits mistakes over Iraq, but regards it as the right thing to have done.

• Defends the Guantánamo Bay detention centre and the use of torture, such as waterboarding, to extract information from alleged terrorists, saying that it helped save American lives.

• Accepts he took "too long" to make decisions over the disaster that engulfed New Orleans after it was struck by hurricane Katrina five years ago, killing more than 1,800 people, but says the blame lies with other people.

In a book largely lacking in personal insight, Bush says he is most angry at accusations that he was indifferent to the plight of the victims of Katrina because so many are black. "The suggestion that I was a racist because of the response to Katrina represented an all-time low. I told Laura at the time that it was the worst moment of my presidency. I feel the same way today," Bush writes.

On Iran, some of his advisers argued that destroying "the regime's prized project" of its nuclear facility would help the Iranian opposition, while others worried it would stir up Iranian nationalism against the US.

"Military action would always be on the table, but it would be my last resort," he said. He added that he discussed all the options with Tony Blair, who in his memoirs published earlier this year revealed he leaned towards military action.

Bush also discussed a request from the Israeli prime minister at the time, Ehud Olmert, to bomb a suspected Syrian nuclear plant. Bush convened his national security team to discuss an air strike or a covert raid. He says of the latter: "We studied the idea seriously, but the CIA and the military concluded it would be too risky to slip a team into and out of Syria." He said no to a disappointed Olmert. The Israelis then did it themselves in September 2007. Bush's first call after 9/11 was with Blair. "The conversation helped cement the closest friendship I would form with any foreign leader," Bush writes.

Blair is referred to at various points as "Tony", whereas leaders such as the French president, Jacques Chirac, who kept France out of the Iraq war, is referred to simply as "Chirac".

Some of the interesting points taken from the Guardian article.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

It is constantly being updated.

[Richie]

I suppose its better out in the open. Should get loads of hits.

[immense]

I think it's going to open a can of worms on Blair too, who is hardly adored by the public as it is. The old argument that he was Bush's lapdog will come back and this will undoubtedly be used as evidence.

[MrPinkPanther]

George Bush's memoir has got to be one of the astonishing books ever, I mean who knew the guy could read let alone write?

[Conservative,]

Hmmm...I think he's gunna cause a lot of hate towards USA by publishing them.

[MrPinkPanther]

Hmmm...I think he's gunna cause a lot of hate towards USA by publishing them.

Actually I was reading in the guardian that he comes off well from this and sounds really "humble". I'm genuinely surprised.

[Accipiter]

Seems to be missing out on his points with his relations to saudi arabia

[Conservative,]

Actually I was reading in the guardian that he comes off well from this and sounds really "humble". I'm genuinely surprised.

Oh wow lol. Tbh I still won't like him.

[Josh]

Oh wow lol. Tbh I still won't like him.

How come?

[Conservative,]

How come?

My personal political beliefs and disagreement with most of his actions.

[immense]

My personal political beliefs and disagreement with most of his actions.

From what I've seen on this forum he's quite in line with you.

[Conservative,]

From what I've seen on this forum he's quite in line with you.

Yes that's true and I admit I stand on roughly the same place in politics in general, but some of the decisions he made I would disagree with.

[immense]

I doubt there are many people who would endorse all his decisions... well not now with hindsight anyway.

[Conservative,]

Yeah lol.

[Mrs.McCall]

I'm gonna be controversial and say I like George Bush. I've pre-ordered his book and I'm excited to read it. Did he make mistakes? Of course but hindsight is a real ***** and he learnt the hard way. I think he did a lot of good stuff and his reaction to 9/11 and such I think was really great. He got criticised for not reacting when he was told that America was under attack but the way he stayed cool, calm and collected as to not frighten anyone was professional and I think quite stately.

[MrPinkPanther]

and his reaction to 9/11 and such I think was really great.
What? War without UN approval? The UN is there for a reason.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I'm gonna be controversial and say I like George Bush. I've pre-ordered his book and I'm excited to read it. Did he make mistakes? Of course but hindsight is a real ***** and he learnt the hard way. I think he did a lot of good stuff and his reaction to 9/11 and such I think was really great. He got criticised for not reacting when he was told that America was under attack but the way he stayed cool, calm and collected as to not frighten anyone was professional and I think quite stately.

Stayed cool? you mean by attacking one of the most free and stable countries in the Middle East (Iraq) who had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks?


What? War without UN approval? The UN is there for a reason.

The UN is nothing more than a talking shop where the big boys tell the little boys to keep in line.

As much as I disagree with the wars Bush started, the elected United States government does not require permission to do something from an unelected organisation in order to defend its national interests (again, thats very debatable concerning US interests by starting these wars).

[Tintinnabulate]

• Accepts he took "too long" to make decisions over the disaster that engulfed New Orleans after it was struck by hurricane Katrina five years ago, killing more than 1,800 people, but says the blame lies with other people.

Yeah lol blame it on someone else.

And Americans just wanted to see other countries getting bombed after 9/11 and no way was Bush going to get UN approval. If they said no and he didn't invade Iraw, he wouldn't have been re-elected.

[HotelUser]

Yeah lol blame it on someone else.

And Americans just wanted to see other countries getting bombed after 9/11 and no way was Bush going to get UN approval. If they said no and he didn't invade Iraw, he wouldn't have been re-elected.

I hate how unfair it is that America is, in a large sense, above the authority of the United Nations, where other countries would have ben subject to international court for such an offense.

[Jordy]

Yeah lol blame it on someone else.

And Americans just wanted to see other countries getting bombed after 9/11 and no way was Bush going to get UN approval. If they said no and he didn't invade Iraw, he wouldn't have been re-elected.What are you on about with Americans wanting to see other countries get bombed? Completely disagree there, not a very big fan of President Bush at all, especially how in his latter years he was very quiet on any issues such as the American economy and Foreign Policy, waiting for a new president to get elected. I also disagree with the war in Iraq and possible Afghanistan and his handling of the Hurricane Katrina situation. BUT anyway, I thought his handling over the 9/11 issue was perfect. He kept America together and restored everyone's faith in the government by taking suitable action and reassuring the people, this was reflected by his rocketing approval rating, the high morale of people and the fact there's been no major terrorist attacks in the US since.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I hate how unfair it is that America is, in a large sense, above the authority of the United Nations, where other countries would have ben subject to international court for such an offense.

But then you also have the problem of those international bodies being unelected and unaccountable to the people. Unless you advocate world government (which in itself is also unworkable and disasterous) then there's not really a solution - the only sensible solution is to disband organisations such as the United Nations which are only intended to be used by the rich and powerful (Sir Morris Strong, who advocated and still does to this day, using global warming as a way to achieve world government) to bully those who step out of line.

We see it today with Iran and Venezuela in regards to the United States, and in the past with Cuba.

The United Nations and such international bodies are not needed, we have ambassadors afterall.


What are you on about with Americans wanting to see other countries get bombed? Completely disagree there, not a very big fan of President Bush at all, especially how in his latter years he was very quiet on any issues such as the American economy and Foreign Policy, waiting for a new president to get elected. I also disagree with the war in Iraq and possible Afghanistan and his handling of the Hurricane Katrina situation. BUT anyway, I thought his handling over the 9/11 issue was perfect. He kept America together and restored everyone's faith in the government by taking suitable action and reassuring the people, this was reflected by his rocketing approval rating, the high morale of people and the fact there's been no major terrorist attacks in the US since.

George W. Bush used scare tactics to push through the US Patriot Bill (just as we did here with anti-terrorism laws which removed and destroyed hundreds of years worth of civil liberties) and also as a tactic to get people behind them wars. Fear is an essential tool for politicians just as the Church used it to keep people in check and order hundreds of years ago. The same can be seen today with terrorism laws, global warming, the EU - almost everything.

[Cheryl]

George W. Bush used scare tactics to push through the US Patriot Bill (just as we did here with anti-terrorism laws which removed and destroyed hundreds of years worth of civil liberties) and also as a tactic to get people behind them wars. Fear is an essential tool for politicians just as the Church used it to keep people in check and order hundreds of years ago. The same can be seen today with terrorism laws, global warming, the EU - almost everything.

This is no big secret. He hastily wanted to get certain bills pushed.

In my opinion the Obama administration has been a lot like the Lib Dems in that they made definitive promises when they first came into power. They [Obama administration] insisted Guantanamo Bay would be shut down with [a year] this has failed, and also Obama publicly came out and said the CIA would no longer use water boarding. However even if this was not defended, as Bush has, it would be near impossible to enforce any such laws on the front line, just as the hooding of detainees is impossible to judge with both the British and American forces.

[Hiro]

I reckon it would be a good read.