By R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. on 12.11.08 @ 6:08AM
President Bush will soon be writing his -- and in doing so he'll
have to give us a full measure of Saddam Hussein.
WASHINGTON -- My agents report that President George W. Bush is
even now contemplating a memoir. When it comes to writing a
memoir, I humbly submit that even a commander in chief should
take counsel from an editor in chief, especially if the editor in
chief is an admirer.
As the retiring president heads back to Texas, he might bear in
mind that his presidency was unusually turbulent. His memoir will
be the record of a president whose time in office began and ended
with two stupendous crises that only Franklin Roosevelt and
Ronald Reagan experienced in modern times, though the
chronological order of their crises was more orderly. They moved
from financial crisis to geopolitical crisis. Mr. Bush's first
crisis came in his first year with 9/11, a contemporary Pearl
Harbor more treacherous than the first Pearl Harbor. His second
came in his last year, the subprime mortgage day of reckoning,
the credit freeze, ultimately the worst financial crisis in a
century.
In recent interviews Mr. Bush has sounded glum. As an editor I
advise him to review the facts and take heart. Both of his crises
originated in his predecessor's administration. His memoir must
make this clear. In fact, it is his duty to set the record
straight. Gentleman that he is, Mr. Bush is going to have to find
the right tone in laying out these facts. He must not appear to
be defensive or to be scapegoating. After all, he arrived at the
White House after America's foolish Holiday From History. It is
perfectly appropriate that in the holiday's aftermath its
revelers be held accountable.
There is not much he can say about the subprime reckoning, except
that his 2002 budget was critical of the excesses of Fannie and
Freddie. In 2003 his secretary of treasury was equally critical
and called for regulation. To which Congressman Barney Frank
retorted: "I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis."
On the other hand, the 43rd president should have a lot to say
about his response to 9/11, the war on terror, and the toppling
of Saddam Hussein. This was the major undertaking of his
administration, but given his apparent glum humor I am not sure
he will address these matters with the requisite confidence.
Early this month he told ABC News that his "biggest regret" as
president was his handling of intelligence estimates of Saddam
weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Bush, the post 9/11 world was a
world that demanded from you "action this day," and you passed
the test.
After 9/11 no one knew where or when the next attack might come.
Saddam, our longtime antagonist, actually applauded the attacks,
an indiscretion duplicated by no other international figure, save
Osama bin Laden. Moreover, Saddam purposely duped his military
and world leaders into believing that he had weapons of mass
destruction. Now we know he did not have them ready to go, but we
also know that he had them available on short notice. He could
have in a matter of weeks sent chemical and biological weapons to
terrorists or to his intelligence agents for attacks on American
soil or almost anywhere else.
The evidence is available for anyone who wants to review it. Last
summer the Associated Press reported
that a "secret U.S. operation" had transferred 550 metric tons of
"yellowcake," "the last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear
program," to Montreal for peaceful purposes. So contrary to what
your opponents tell you, the strutting tyrant did have the
makings for nuclear weapons. Withal, he had biological and
chemical weapons available in a few weeks notice. That is a key
finding of the Iraq Survey Group.
When the president gets back to Texas I encourage him to read a
really splendid memoir, War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon
at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism, by his under secretary
of defense for policy, Douglas J. Feith. It convincingly explains
the justification for war with Saddam. Quoting the Duelfer Report
on the findings from the Iraq Survey Group, Feith records that at
the time of our invasion, "Iraq still possessed small but
significant dual-use facilities capable of conversion to
small-scale BW agent production." Small-scale, but such agents
are enormously dangerous. The report continues, such dual-use
facilities "could be converted for BW agent production within 4
to 5 weeks…." "In sum," Feith writes, "the Iraq Survey Group
confirmed Saddam's intention and capability to produce biological
and chemical weapons."
Though stockpiles of such lethal weaponry were never found, we
have plenty of evidence that Saddam had the facilities, the
material, the personnel, the capability, and the intent to create
biological weapons. Feith writes that when Saddam had rid himself
of sanctions the evidence is he would have revitalized his WMD
programs. Nothing would stop him but war.
In preparation for the Bush presidential memoir, I suggest Mr.
Bush read the Feith memoir. Finally, Mr. President, in the spirit
of the season, this politically correct editor in chief wishes
you Merry … and Happy ….
topics:
George W. Bush
