When Dishing Out Blame, Don't Stop With BushMy fellow bloggers - why in the world did we not think of this notion first? I'm so embarrassed...
Don't put the blame for Iraq on President Bush alone. Nothing, it would seem, could have stopped the Bush administration from pursuing its long-standing plans against Saddam Hussein. But placing responsibility for the Iraq debacle solely on Bush's shoulders is too simple and even potentially dangerous. It blurs the responsibilities of others who contributed to an environment in which new, bad ideas were embraced while proven, good ones were shed.
It is important to learn that whatever the threat - terrorism included - no government should be afforded the latitude enjoyed by the Bush administration. The media - both reporters and commentators - are among the prime culprits here. [...]
Further facilitating Bush's failures in Iraq was the climate of opinion created by gullible newspaper commentary writers and ratings-hungry talk-show hosts. Even the normally vociferous lobby of nongovernmental organizations was strangely restrained.
Any government allocating multibillion-dollar contracts the way the Bush administration did in Iraq would normally draw the wrath of anti-corruption organizations. But in this case, the usually loud denunciations were mere whispers.
[/sarcasm]
