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Of Euric
Sent: Thursday, 07 October, 2004
23:30
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:31246] Why We Must
Not Re-elect President Bush
A Personal Message from George Soros
Why We Must Not Re-elect President Bush
Prepared text of speech delivered at the National Press Club,
Washington, DC, September 28, 2004
Download the
speech: PDF version | Word doc
This is the most important election
of my lifetime. I have never been heavily involved in partisan politics but
these are not normal times. President Bush is endangering our safety, hurting
our vital interests and undermining American values. That is why I am sending
you this message. I have been demonized by the Bush campaign but I hope you
will give me a hearing.
President Bush ran on the platform of a "humble" foreign policy in
2000. If we re-elect him now, we endorse the Bush doctrine of preemptive action
and the invasion of Iraq, and we will have to live with the consequences. As I
shall try to show, we are facing a vicious circle of escalating violence with
no end in sight. But if we repudiate the Bush policies at the polls, we shall
have a better chance to regain the respect and support of the world and to
break the vicious circle.
I grew up in Hungary, lived through fascism and the Holocaust, and then had a
foretaste of communism. I learned at an early age how important it is what kind
of government prevails. I chose America as my home because I value freedom and
democracy, civil liberties and an open society.
When I had made more money than I needed for myself and my family, I set up a
foundation to promote the values and principles of a free and open society. I
started in South Africa in 1979 and established a foundation in my native
country, Hungary, in 1984 when it was still under communist rule. China, Poland
and the Soviet Union followed in 1987. After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, I
established foundations in practically all the countries of the former Soviet
empire and later in other parts of the world and in the United States. These
foundations today spend about 450 million dollars a year to promote democracy
and open society around the world.
When George W. Bush was elected president, and particularly after September 11,
I saw that the values and principles of open society needed to be defended at
home. September 11 led to a suspension of the critical process so essential to
a democracy - a full and fair discussion of the issues. President Bush silenced
all criticism by calling it unpatriotic. When he said that "either you are
with us, or you are with the terrorists," I heard alarm bells ringing. I
am afraid that he is leading us in a very dangerous direction. We are losing
the values that have made America great.
The destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center was such a
horrendous event that it required a strong response. But the President
committed a fundamental error in thinking: the fact that the terrorists are
manifestly evil does not make whatever counter-actions we take automatically
good. What we do to combat terrorism may also be wrong. Recognizing that we may
be wrong is the foundation of an open society. President Bush admits no doubt
and does not base his decisions on a careful weighing of reality. For 18 months
after 9/11 he managed to suppress all dissent. That is how he could lead the
nation so far in the wrong direction.
President Bush inadvertently played right into the hands of bin Laden. The
invasion of Afghanistan was justified: that was where bin Laden lived and al
Qaeda had its training camps. The invasion of Iraq was not similarly justified.
It was President Bush's unintended gift to bin Laden.
War and occupation create innocent victims. We count the body bags of American
soldiers; there have been more than 1000 in Iraq. The rest of the world also
looks at the Iraqis who get killed daily. There have been 20 times more. Some
were trying to kill our soldiers; far too many were totally innocent, including
many women and children. Every innocent death helps the terrorists' cause by
stirring anger against America and bringing them potential recruits.
Immediately after 9/11 there was a spontaneous outpouring of sympathy for us
worldwide. It has given way to an equally widespread resentment. There are many
more people willing to risk their lives to kill Americans than there were on
September 11 and our security, far from improving as President Bush claims, is
deteriorating. I am afraid that we have entered a vicious circle of escalating
violence where our fears and their rage feed on each other. It is not a process
that is likely to end any time soon. If we re-elect President Bush we are
telling the world that we approve his policies - and we shall be at war for a
long time to come.
I realize that what I am saying is bound to be unpopular. We are in the grip of
a collective misconception induced by the trauma of 9/11, and fostered by the
Bush administration. No politician could say it and hope to get elected. That
is why I feel obliged to speak out. There is a widespread belief that President
Bush is making us safe. The opposite is true. President Bush failed to finish
off bin Laden when he was cornered in Afghanistan because he was gearing up to
attack Iraq. And the invasion of Iraq bred more people willing to risk their
lives against Americans than we are able to kill - generating the vicious
circle I am talking about.
President Bush likes to insist that the terrorists hate us for what we are - a
freedom loving people - not what we do. Well, he is wrong on that. He also
claims that the torture scenes at Abu Graib prison were the work of a few bad
apples. He is wrong on that too. They were part of a system of dealing with
detainees put in place by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and our troops in
Iraq are paying the price.
How could President Bush convince people that he is good for our security,
better than John Kerry? By building on the fears generated by the collapse of
the twin towers and fostering a sense of danger. At a time of peril, people
rally around the flag and President Bush has exploited this. His campaign is based
on the assumption that people do not really care about the truth and they will
believe practically anything if it is repeated often enough, particularly by a
President at a time of war. There must be something wrong with us if we fall
for it. For instance, some 40% of the people still believe that Saddam Hussein
was connected with 9/11 - although it is now definitely established by the 9/11
Commission, set up by the President and chaired by a Republican, that there was
no connection. I want to shout from the roof tops: "Wake up America. Don't
you realize that we are being misled?"
President Bush has used 9/11 to further his own agenda which has very little to
do with fighting terrorism. There was an influential group within the Bush
administration led by Vice President Dick Cheney that was itching to invade
Iraq long before 9/11. The terrorist attack gave them their chance. If you need
a tangible proof why President Bush does not deserve to be re-elected, consider
Iraq.
The war in Iraq was misconceived from start to finish -- if it has a finish. It
is a war of choice, not necessity, in spite of what President Bush says. The
arms inspections and sanctions were working. In response to American pressure,
the United Nations had finally agreed on a strong stand. As long as the
inspectors were on the ground, Saddam Hussein could not possibly pose a threat
to our security. We could have declared victory but President Bush insisted on
going to war.
We went to war on false pretences. The real reasons for going into Iraq have
not been revealed to this day. The weapons of mass destruction could not be
found, and the connection with al Qaeda could not be established. President
Bush then claimed that we went to war to liberate the people of Iraq. All my
experience in fostering democracy and open society has taught me that democracy
cannot be imposed by military means. And, Iraq would be the last place I would
chose for an experiment in introducing democracy - as the current chaos
demonstrates.
Of course, Saddam was a tyrant, and of course Iraqis - and the rest of the
world - can rejoice to be rid of him. But Iraqis now hate the American
occupation. We stood idly by while Baghdad was ransacked. As the occupying
power, we had an obligation to maintain law and order, but we failed to live up
to it. If we had cared about the people of Iraq we should have had more troops
available for the occupation than we needed for the invasion. We should have
provided protection not only for the oil ministry but also the other ministries,
museums and hospitals. Baghdad and the country's other cities were destroyed
after we occupied them. When we encountered resistance, we employed methods
that alienated and humiliated the population. The way we invaded homes, and the
way we treated prisoners generated resentment and rage. Public opinion condemns
us worldwide.
The number of flipflops and missteps committed by the Bush administration in
Iraq far exceeds anything John Kerry can be accused of. First we dissolved the
Iraqi army, then we tried to reconstitute it. First we tried to eliminate the
Baathists, then we turned to them for help. First we installed General Jay
Garner to run the country, then we gave it to Paul Bremer and when the
insurgency became intractable, we installed an Iraqi government. The man we
chose was a prot�g� of the CIA with the reputation of a strong man - a far cry
from democracy. First we attacked Falluja over the objections of the Marine
commander on the ground, then pulled them out when the assault was half-way through,
again over his objections. "Once you commit, you got to stay
committed," he said publicly. More recently, we started bombing Falluja
again.
The Bush campaign is trying to put a favorable spin on it, but the situation in
Iraq is dire. Much of the Western part of the country has been ceded to the
insurgents. Even the so-called Green Zone (a small enclave in the center of
Baghdad where Americans live and work) is subject to mortar attacks. The
prospects of holding free and fair elections in January are fast receding and
civil war looms. President Bush received a somber intelligence evaluation in
July but he has kept it under wraps and failed to level with the electorate.
Bush's war in Iraq has done untold damage to the United States. It has impaired
our military power and undermined the morale of our armed forces. Before the
invasion of Iraq, we could project overwhelming power in any part of the world.
We cannot do so any more because we are bogged down in Iraq. Afghanistan is
slipping from our control. North Korea, Iran, Pakistan and other countries are
pursuing nuclear programs with renewed vigor and many other problems remain
unattended.
By invading Iraq without a second UN resolution, we violated international law.
By mistreating and even torturing prisoners, we violated the Geneva
conventions. President Bush has boasted that we do not need a permission slip
from the international community, but our actions have endangered our security
- particularly the security of our troops.
Our troops were trained to project overwhelming power. They were not trained
for occupation duties. Having to fight an insurgency saps their morale. Many of
our troops return from Iraq with severe trauma and other psychological
disorders. Sadly, many are also physically injured. After Iraq, it will be
difficult to recruit people for the armed forces and we may have to resort to
conscription.
There are many other policies for which the Bush administration can be
criticized but none are as important as Iraq. Iraq has cost us nearly 200
billion dollars -- an enormous sum. It could have been used much better
elsewhere. The costs are going to mount because it was much easier to get into
Iraq than it will be to get out of there. President Bush has been taunting John
Kerry to explain how he would do things differently in Iraq. John Kerry has
responded that he would have done everything differently and he would be in a
better position to extricate us than the man who got us in there. But it won't
be easy for him either, because we are caught in a quagmire.
It is a quagmire that many predicted. I predicted it in my book, The Bubble of
American Supremacy. I was not alone: top military and diplomatic experts
desperately warned the President not to invade Iraq. But he ignored their experienced
advice. He suppressed the critical process. The discussion about Iraq remains
stilted even during this presidential campaign because of the notion that any
criticism of our Commander-in-Chief puts our troops at risk. But this is Bush's
war, and he ought to be held responsible for it. It's the wrong war, fought the
wrong way. Step back for a moment from the cacophony of the election campaign
and reflect: who got us into this mess? In spite of his Texas swagger, George
W. Bush does not qualify to serve as our Commander-in-Chief.
There is a lot more to be said on the subject and I have said it in my book,
The Bubble of American Supremacy, now available in paperback. I hope you will
read it. You can download the chapter on the Iraqi quagmire free from
www.georgesoros.com
If you find my arguments worth considering, please share this message with your
friends.
I would welcome your comments at georgesoros.com .
I am eager to engage in a critical discussion because the stakes are so high.
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