Bush’s 5 Biggest Foreign Policy Bombs Posted by The National Security Network

NSN comes back with a vengeance this week with the launching of its new project, Bush’s Bombs: A National Security Legacy of Failure.

Today, we released the Executive Summary which outlined Bush’s 5 Biggest Bombs, carefully selected after exhaustive research of the NSN staff.

Sadly, we found that there was so much, we had trouble organizing it all, but narrowed it down to 5 main themes that really capture the Bush Administration’s massive failures. In each category we selected the Biggest Bomb, but make sure to read the Executive Summary that outlines a number of “duds” in each category as well.

In our opinion, Bush’s Biggest Bombs are: 

Ignoring reality in favor of ideology: The Al-Qaeda Iraq Connection and Justification for War

Systematically running roughshod over our government institutions: FEMA and Hurricane Katrina

Weakening America’s global leadership: The Financial Crisis

Disregarding and undermining basic American values and traditions: Abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib

Failing to govern competently: Osama bin Laden’s Escape

Bush’s constant missteps made NSN’s job easy over the years, but it’s a step too far to say we’ll miss him.

Make sure to check back every day this week for the latest installment of Bush’s Bombs, NSN’s farewell to the 43rd President of the United States. 

Check out the schedule after the jump…

 The scheduled release for Bush’s Bombs: A National Security Legacy of Failure is as follows:
 

Monday: Executive Summary
Tuesday: Chapters 1-3: Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Terrorism
Wednesday: Chapters 4-6: Military, National Security Infrastructure, Detainees and Torture
Thursday: Chapters 7-8: Energy, International Economy
Friday: Chapters 9-11: Proliferation, Geopolitics, Diplomacy

Each segment of Bush’s Bombs: A National Security Legacy of Failure can be found at www.nsnetwork.org upon its release.

Comments

[Steve Hynd]

You forgot global climate change denialism. That's the largest threat to national security by far and by foot-dragging Bush has put the US far behind the curve.

[Zathras]

Setting one's ceiling for this kind of thing at five takes some fortitude. There is always the risk one may be asked why letting 9/11 happen in the first place doesn't qualify as the largest of blunders, since it was the necessary precondition for most of the others.

Having said that, I'd ask as well why delegating the powers of the Presidency to unaccountable subordinates didn't make the list. If it hadn't produced the list of disasters with which we are all familiar, it was likely to have produced others. It is an historical irony that wildly expansive claims of executive authority have for many years been made in the name of a President so weak that he was willing to let his Vice President set the terms of policy discussion within the White House, and for a time control the flow of information there as well. When the Bush Presidency's powers were not being delegated to the Office of the Vice President, they were being delegated to the Secretary of Defense; years later, they were delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the latter of whom is not even part of the executive branch.

[afzalrizvi]

In my candid and humble view, the major failure of the Bush administartion has been that its callous policy in Iraq and its deviously combated war on terror has promoted high degree of antiamericanism in the entire Muslim world, thereby making many bottlenecks in the growth of transatlantic relations.

[Mearsheimer]

Very nicely summarized. It could be further reduced to one word: Bush.

Despite the accolades immediately following 9/11 -- hallelujah that Kerry wasn't president -- Bush developed tunnel vision and rebuked anything that didn't associate 9/11 with his obsession with removing Hussein. From there it was denial after denial or not facing the reality in front of everyone's noses except the president's.

[poot]

All worthy points, but I think Bush's failure to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution is ultimately a worse failing than a specific case such as Abu Ghraib or Guantanimo. Placing the President above the law is counter to fundamental American values.

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All worthy points, but I think Bush's failure to preserve

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All worthy points, but I think Bush's failure to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution is ultimately a worse failing than a specific case such as Abu Ghraib or Guantanimo. Placing the President above the law is counter to fundamental American values.

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