How the East Was Won

Maintaining presidency for two consecutive terms evidently mean that you’ve done a great job; but in George W. Bush’s case it’s not a simple supposition. Constantly smiling, he reminds me of a child, and it makes me believe that sending his country in ruins was not in his intentions, but he simply was not fit to govern one. Nevertheless I cannot forgive him for many of the decisions which took the United States in a downward spiral, as they inevitably drew in other countries as well.
During his last speech he recalls the first time he addressed the country, on September 11; from then it would only be a slow ride downhill.
I watched the development of the Second Gulf War with disbelief. The first step that brought Bush great unpopularity in The US, as well as abroad, was his decision to invade Iraq without the consent of the United Nations. He continued to ridicule himself as he initially used the excuse of searching for weapons of mass destruction, and switching his justification of the invasion as an attempt to bring “American Democracy.”
I found it ironic that he mentioned America as promoter of “human rights, and human dignity,” as the world knows that the Bush administration was involved in the inhuman practices and treatment applied in the detention camps established shortly after the start of the war; the most well-known are Guantanamo in Cuba and Abu Ghraib in Iraq. The treatment of the detainees was so cruel that the US government received criticisms from the European Union, and organizations such as Amnesty and Human Rights Watch.
Back at home, American citizens sarcastically thank him for leaving the economy in a dramatic situation after wasting billions in bailouts.
After eight turbulent years, the Bush administration is ready to leave the office to Barack Obama, and we anxiously wait to see what mark he’ll leave in US history.