BOOK REVIEW New language is not enough Overcoming the Bush Legacy in Iraq and Afghanistan by Deepak
Tripathi
Reviewed by Ramzy Baroud
When former United States President George W Bush left the White House in 2009,
he left behind one of the most unpleasant legacies in history. He redefined the
US's role in world affairs, tainted the country's reputation and left his
successor with a political inheritance that seemed almost irrevocable. This
says nothing of the toll Bush's policies inflicted on millions of people.
While reputable author and world-renowned journalist Deepak Tripathi agrees
with this grim view, he doesn't think all is lost. He believes there is still a
chance, an opportunity even, to redress
the injustice and reverse the mistakes that were made.
A compelling writer and a meticulous researcher, Tripathi's work is both
gripping and comprehensive. His latest book, Overcoming The Bush Legacy in Iraq
and Afghanistan serves as a glaring reminder of what military power can
do when it goes unchecked, and when it is combined with religious fanaticism or
misguided political ideology.
The book's first chapter starts with a quote by president Abraham Lincoln, and
it ends with another by civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr, which
serve as a clear indication of Tripathi's own moral stances. Tripathi
courageously exposes the policies of the Bush administration and its
neo-conservative clique, which took advantage of the attacks of September 11,
2001, to reassert the authority of a weakening superpower. But the push to
reclaim America's standing actually preceded the terrorist attacks. In fact,
Tripathi claims that "the ideological vehicle used to get George W Bush elected
to the White House in November 2000 was the Project for the New American
Century (PNAC). Several of its founders were close to Bush and secured key
positions in his first administration."
This assertion is of immense importance. In its statement of principles, dated
June 3, 1997, the PNAC warned of the "danger of squandering the opportunity and
failing the challenge", because the US seems to lack "the resolve to shape a
century favorable to American principles and interests". One of the
recommendations was to "increase the defense spending significantly if we are
to carry out our global responsibilities today and modernize our armed forces
for the future".
But with the Cold War being settled in favor of the US, there seemed little
need to invest in what the neo-conservatives saw as an acceptance of
"responsibility of America's unique role in preserving and extending an
international order friendly to our security".
September 11 was the very opportunity that allowed the militancy of a small,
detached and very influential group to define and eventually dictate the
policies of the United States. "We stand together to win the war against
terrorism," Bush said on September 11. This was not simply a declaration of war
against an elusive enemy, but also a declaration of unreserved violence and
political imprudence, a blank check to reconfigure the world.
Tripathi has done a superb job in addressing this topic. His successful
approach is largely owed to his ability to locate the book within a most
suitable historical and intellectual, as opposed to a purely political or
event-driven, context. This approach is a direct challenge to those who wish to
examine the Bush legacy with September 11 as a starting point. Such a point
might be considered rational, but it in fact represents a reductionist approach
to history, and can only allow a limited understanding of its consequences.
Tripathi has no such illusions.
In "With Us or Without Us", Tripathi emphasizes that a better understanding of
the war in Afghanistan requires a historical analysis of the US-Pakistan
relations that takes us to the Ronald Reagan administration, and even earlier.
Important names, dates and events appear in that historical examination, and
are quickly tied into the immediate past and present. Without such context,
there can be no true understanding of what took place in Afghanistan under the
Bush regime, and what continues to unfold there. Tripathi's narrative replaces
the media's caricatured account of both wars, and instead provides an objective
study of rational events and those who shaped them.
Indeed, it was not Bush and his neo-conservative friends alone who wrought such
disasters to the world. A whole array of individuals provided political cover
and even, to a lesser extent, material support. In "The Battle for
Afghanistan", Tripathi shows how the likes of former British premier Tony Blair
and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi colluded with Bush's "war on
terror". The bombs began falling on Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, and are yet
to cease falling, despite the fact that Bush is no longer in the White House.
This is largely what makes Tripathi's book so important. It is not about Bush
as a man, but Bush's legacy. This legacy is an inheritance of other political
legacies of various administrations and numerous interests. It continues to
engulf, if not control US foreign policy to the present day. To detain that
perpetual deterioration in world affairs, a proper deconstruction of history is
a must.
But why should we reiterate what we already know? Isn't it enough that most of
us at least acknowledge already that to link Iraq to al-Qaeda and September 11
is absurd? That the weapons of mass destruction allegations were a baseless
concoction and a complete fraud? No, it is not enough. A better understanding
of the world doesn't automatically make it a better place. Whether we like it
or not, Bush and the neo-conservatives got away with serious
misrepresentations. And the peoples of both Afghanistan and Iraq continue to
suffer.
The US must and will withdraw from both countries, largely because the stubborn
resistance of their peoples will eventually prevail. However, Americans must
discuss more than "an exist strategy". They should also discuss how they got
there in the first place, when they supposedly had a democratic system with
political transparency and accountability. President Barack Obama might some
day act on his promises to shut down the US gulag at Guantanamo Bay, but the
challenge will remain in understanding how America allowed a few individuals to
suspend such basic principles as habeas corpus, which Tripathi so ably traced
to the Magna Carta under King John of England in June 1215.
Tripathi's Overcoming the Bush Legacy in Iraq and Afghanistan gives us a
well-structured understanding of a seemingly chaotic legacy, and answers many
of the innumerable unanswered questions. It is an honest and formidable attempt
at understanding one of the darkest periods in the history of America and the
world. We owe him more than a thank you. He deserves an earnest attempt from us
to understand his book, and to act on his counsel.
Overcoming the Bush Legacy in Iraq and Afghanistan by Deepak Tripathi.
Potomac Books Inc; edition 1, March 31, 2010. ISBN-10: 1597975036. Price
US$24.95, 200 pages.
Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an internationally-syndicated columnist
and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is
My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story(Pluto Press,
London).
(For a review of Baroud's book, please click
here.
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This assertion is of immense importance. In its statement of principles, dated
June 3, 1997, the PNAC warned of the "danger of squandering the opportunity and
failing the challenge", because the US seems to lack "the resolve to shape a
century favorable to American principles and interests". One of the
recommendations was to "increase the defense spending significantly if we are
to carry out our global responsibilities today and modernize our armed forces
for the future".
