Bush’s Dangerous Obsessions
Newsweek Op-ed
President Bush’s speech to the United Nations was great stagecraft. But was it wise statecraft? That’s the question being debated in the corridors of the Capitol, even though Congress has little choice but to back the president’s obsession with ridding the world of Saddam Hussein. <Why is this? Nothing prevents Congress from saying NO>
When it comes to the selective application of values, Bush is a master. His rhetoric about dictators and weapons of mass destruction is compelling, but what about Iran and North Korea, the other countries in his axis of evil? What about Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe and the way he terrorizes his people? What about India and Pakistan, who could blow up much of their region, along with themselves? Even if Saddam Hussein is an evil psychopath, is he crazy enough to annihilate himself, which is what would happen if he launched deadly weapons?
That brings us to the ultimate question: Why would Bush take such a huge risk with the military, the economy and the map of the Middle East? A psychiatrist might be best equipped to answer that one.