President Trump Calls President's Bush's Wars in the Middle East the Worst Decisions in U.S. History
In an interview with Hill.TV, President Trump made this assessment of the wars.
The worst single mistake ever made in the history of our country: going into the Middle East, by President Bush. Obama may have gotten (U.S. soldiers) out wrong, but going in is, to me, the biggest single mistake made in the history of our country.”
“Because we spent $7 trillion in the Middle East. Now if you wanna fix a window some place they say, 'oh gee, let’s not do it.' Seven trillion, and millions of lives — you know, ‘cause I like to count both sides. Millions of lives.”
“To me, it's the worst single mistake made in the history of our country. Civil war you can understand. Civil war, civil war. That’s different. For us to have gone into the Middle East, and that was just, that was a bad day for this country, I will tell you.”
The brief article is here.
My assessment is somewhat less radical. I think these wars constitute the worst mistakes for the United States in the 21st century. World War I and World War II were the worst mistakes in terms of the loss of life, which is the criterion by which I assess political history.
I opposed publicly the decision of President Bush to take us into the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But there was almost no opposition to his decision. The American people approved of both wars. So did Congress. But he clearly did not have to do it from a military standpoint. Both wars were catastrophic military failures, although the death toll was minimized. They were clearly terrible financial catastrophes. Those debts are never going to be paid off.
My hope is that President Trump will remove American troops from Afghanistan. I hope he will not escalate the confrontation between the United States and the Syrian government. I hope he does not escalate the confrontation with Iran's government. We do not need a third major war in the Middle East to add to the ones we've already had.
War is always expensive. The escalating federal budget deficit is not driven primarily by the Pentagon budget. It is driven primarily by Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. These programs constitute half of the federal government's expenditures. But it would certainly help to reduce the Pentagon's budget, limiting budgetary expenditures to the defense of the country.
There is good news from the Korean peninsula. North Korea and South Korea seem to be coming to an agreement. President Kim has agreed to stop all missile launches, and he has agreed to allow inspections of North Korea's nuclear weapons program. If he sticks to this, this is exceedingly good news. President Moon has invited him to visit Seoul, and he says that he will. This may take place before the end of the year.
If President Trump can get US troops out of Afghanistan before he leaves office, and if a new era of peace really does begin on the Korean peninsula, then his legacy will be secured as a man of peace. I think most Americans would favor a foreign policy based on peace, where American troops and American treasure are not put at risk. I think the public senses that the two wars in the Middle East were a mistake, and I think President Trump understands this. I don't think it would cost them political support if he de-escalated the rhetoric and pulled the troops out. I think it would gain support for them, no matter how the mainstream media spin it.