Bush Has Gotten Much More of a Pass Than His Predecessor Ever Did
Gee, can’t imagine why “Clinton Got a Pass but Bush Is Taken to Task” (Commentary, July 16). Could it have something to do with wagging the dog being quite different than wagging a herd of elephants? Attempting to equate President Clinton’s bombings in Afghanistan, Sudan and various sites in Iraq with President Bush’s Iraq war gives comparing apples and oranges a bad name -- not to mention defiling the memories of those killed in Bush’s war.
Did more than 200 service members die in Clinton’s aforementioned actions? Hardly. Unfortunately, in Bush’s war they have. Did Clinton’s actions cost us $4 billion per month? Not even close.
Barry Rathner
Acton
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Apparently Max Boot forgot the eight years of vicious attacks from the Republicans and their allies in the right-wing media on all things Clinton, to make a flawed argument that focuses on only one issue -- never mind the other 2 1/2 years of lies and deceit the Bush administration has foisted upon us. Talk about turning the truth on its head.
Any objective observer could see that Bush has gotten away with far more than Clinton ever did (or even attempted). War is peace; freedom is slavery; ignorance is strength. Orwell lives!
Steve St. John
Playa del Rey
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Boot’s commentary explains to readers the timeline of the authorization both houses of Congress gave Bush to take military action against Iraq, three months before, and the 16 words [on an attempted uranium purchase by Iraq] in the State of the Union speech. It is hypocritical to say that the votes and decision made for the war were based on the 16 words. Thank you for clarifying the sequence of the events.
Micah Leo
Vista
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If nothing else has been proved by the uproar regarding the erroneous information on Iraq trying to acquire uranium from Niger, it is that Bush reads only what is written for him by his hawkish advisors and doesn’t really have to understand what he is reading.
Richard Curtis
Lake Forest
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With the latest absurdist political statement from L. Paul Bremer III that it is up to the Iraqis to decide how long the U.S. forces remain in that country (July 16), the occupation gets curiouser and curiouser. I don’t see how a motley crew of Iraqi leaders -- dressed in sharply tailored Paris suits, the gray bureaucratic attire favored by former Baath Party members and the tribal garb of Shiite clerics -- can agree on issues beyond abolishing ridiculous holidays promulgated by the deposed dictator (July 14).
The partisan bickering in Washington intensifies as each new GI casualty is reported, but no one seems to question the fundamental folly of Bush’s quest for a boutique colony in the oil-rich nation. Maybe at the end of the four-year colonization plan the Iraqis will follow Liberia’s example and rename Baghdad Bushovia.
Istiaq A. Chisti
Long Beach
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Re “Unexplained Leaps,” editorial, July 15: I will take Clinton’s economy and his lies about Monica Lewinsky over Bush’s economy and his lies about leading us into war any day.
Martin Moore
Woodland Hills