When the invasion of Iraq & Ukraine share similarities, it isn’t brutal for many to point it out. A Freudian Slip from the perpetrator should not be unexpected.
Bush’s Freudian Slip
Bush was discussing the brutality of Russia invading Ukraine. He accidentally reminded the world of the similarities with what he did in Iraq.
“In contrast, Russian elections are rigged,” George W. Bush said. “Political opponents are imprisoned or otherwise eliminated from participating in the electoral process. The result is an absence of checks and balances in Russia and the decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq. I mean Ukraine; Iraq too. I am 75.”
I warned many to highlight the brutality and illegality of what Russia is doing. But we cannot use America as a standard of good military or international behavior. It will give Russia many justifications for what they are doing if one uses us as a template.
To be clear, what Russia is doing is evil. They are killing innocent people, and they have no right to invade Ukraine. But they are doing and using the pretext we have used for our international military ventures worldwide.
Many should view some of the aftermaths of our bombing in Iraq. And given that while we forbid any other country from using nuclear weapons, we were the only country to use them on other human beings, as professor Nina Khrushcheva pointed out in a recent interview. Yes, we had a “justifying” reason to do so, purporting that an invasion would have cost more lives, among other justifications.
My family lived through America’s war footing firsthand. And the actions were not that different from Russia; win at all costs. Here is a snippet I wrote about George Herbert Walker Bush’s invasion of Panama to capture a drug-trafficking facilitator and CIA operative, a capitalist, Panama’s dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega.
The Cuarteles in Colon and Panama City are in densely populated areas. Missiles from many understood-to-be the-test-run of the stealth fighter along with helicopters and C-130 gunships decimated the Cuarteles and the surrounding buildings and tenements. Thousands of poor people live nearby, and the bombing and missile attacks decimated them. There was no way to get an accurate count of the dead nor was there any interest in doing so. They were just hauled off and dumped like debris.
During the hours of hell, my dad, “rest-his-soul,” was running around in his house in Arco Iris scared to death, less than three miles from the concentrated bombings and missile attacks. Then there was one tall building, a 15-story building that the military claimed had snipers aiming at their flying assets. They sent missiles into that building where civilians lived.
During the occupation portion of the invasion, the military blocked the movement of people from Arco Iris to Colon. Unable to speak Spanish they opened fire on a Panamanian attempting to go into Colon to get insulin for his wife. Many atrocities were committed throughout the country.
Please read the entire piece and listen to the included video. We must be humble as Americans because introspection can be enlightening. While some see it as unpatriotic, it is the only way forward.