"President Bush -- you have said, 'It is vital for the Iraqi people to know with certainty that America will not abandon them after we have come this far.'The point, of course, is to find out whether post-president Bush plans to just cash in on the lecture circuit or whether he's as committed to Iraqi freedom as he always claims. It's easy (and common) for presidents to walk away from their policies, dust their hands and say, "Well, I did everything I could."
When you leave office on Jan. 20, 2009, what do you plan to do personally to continue the changes in Iraq?"
But Bush and Iraq are different. As he reminds us in speech after speech, bringing freedom to Iraq isn't a policy -- it's a calling from God. He also tells us it's necessary if America expects to be safe from terrorist attack ever again.
And to be fair to the president, here are some positions/initiatives that he might offer as proof of his continuing commitment to the country he invaded:
- Become U.S. ambassador to Iraq (my recommendation)
- Become consultant to the Iraqi public schools system
- Fund and oversee an Iraq-based institute that promotes democracy and a free press
- Fund and oversee a U.S.-based institute that gives future Iraqi leaders hands-on experience in a working democracy
- Start a micro-loan nonprofit using his own money to help struggling Iraqi companies
- Start a company that provides affordable infrastructure rebuilding services to the Iraqi government
1 comment:
I like the idea of Bush's having to help clean up the mess for which he's at least partly responsible. But I thought that all of his previous turns at the helm of organizations (except maybe for the Texas governorship) were undistinguished at best and failures at worst. Is that right? And if so, then I don't want him heading anything related to Iraq, and I especially don't want him being the US ambassador there.
Maybe he could have a role in one of the ways that you suggest, but not at the highest levels? In fact, it might be useful for him to have to work in an organization where someone else is "the decider".
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