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George Bush: Evaluation
As former ambassador to the UN and head of the US liaison office in China, Bush’s experience in foreign policy made for stark contrast with his predecessors, Reagan and Carter, who were both former governors and came to the presidency with no experience in global dealings whatsoever. Because of the head start he had on Reagan and Carter, much was expected out of Bush when it came his foreign policy initiative. To a large extent, Bush lived up to the expectation, atleast in that he had no major catastrophes.
With the exception of “read my lips," few people remember anything about the Bush presidency except the Persian Gulf War. The highly publicized event was memorable not only because it was the first major US war in almost two decades, but also because it was such a sweeping American victory. The clearly stated objectives of protecting Saudi Arabia and expelling the Iraqis from Kuwait were achieved quickly with few casualties on the US side.
The victory not only demonstrated US military dominance, but also Bush’s skills as a diplomat. The former ambassador skillfully brought together a coalition that freely contributed equipment, troops, and money to the war effort. Bush, recognizing the importance of keeping the Soviets from aiding the opposition as they had done in Vietnam, called upon Gorbachev to condemn the violation of international law and come out against Iraq in a series of UN resolutions calling for an Iraqi withdrawal.
Although the war was an all around success, Bush still received criticism for leaving Saddam in power. These complaints are largely unwarranted, however. First, it should be remembered that Bush never stated, publicly or to his advisors, that he desired the removal of Saddam. The coalition was formed with the goal to secure the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait, not to remove a dictator. Second, overthrowing Saddam using US forces was simply impractical. Capturing Saddam would have meant fighting in the streets of Baghdad against Saddam’s elite private guard. Such an action would have guaranteed thousands of US and civilian casualties. In addition, a prolonged US occupation of Iraq would have been necessary to set up a new government. Although Bush did encourage the people of Iraq to “take matters into their own hands to force Saddam Hussein aside," he was justified in not using the military to overthrow the dictator.
Although the Persian Gulf war was to be Bush’s crowning achievement, his first challenge was the situation in Panama with Noriega. Worried that the dictatorship would undermine the US-controlled Canal Zone. Bush, who had been in favor of using force to remove the dictator since he was vice president, made the final decision to go into Panama City after a handful of Marines were killed by Noriega’s soldiers. Although key installations in the city were taken quickly, Bush was perturbed by the fact that Noriega avoided US troops and made it to the Vatican embassyt so he could claim asylum. The complications of what Bush saw as a relatively simple maneuver contributed to his decision to not attempt to remove Saddam from Baghdad.
With the exception of Desert Storm, Bush had a fairly uneventful four years in the area of foreign policy, at least in comparison to the troublesome situations that Reagan and Carter were faced with. Still, Bush dealt with what global concerns he had in a decisive and intelligent manner. It is unfortunate that his domestic failures overshadowed his accomplishments. |
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