McClellan: Bush Wanted War

Scott McClellan's new book may well clear up the Great Mystery of why we went into Iraq. He appears to be backing up the theory that I have subscribed to, that it was Bush's grand, legacy-building strategy for the MidEast. According to the AP, McClellan asserts that in Iraq...Bush saw "his opportunity to create a legacy of greatness," something McClellan said Bush has said he believes is only available to wartime presidents. There's a lot more like that in the article, which is worth a read.

No, it was not about oil - nobody actually making money from oil supported it. Part of it might have been just a severe over-reaction to 9/11, lashing out at Saddam as the most unsympathetic target available, but there were certainly more effective tactics we could have taken to send an anti-terrorist message. Bush believed he could avenge his father's 'humiliation' at getting kicked out of office while Saddam continued to thumb his nose at our no-fly-zones and arms inspectors while building for himself a reputation as a great 'wartime president' whose bold efforts transformed the world. In sum, half-a-trillion dollars have been vaporized, 4,000 American lives lost, tens of thousands of Iraqi's killed, countless new terrorist recruits, and the loss of America's good will throughout the world: for one man's vanity.