George W. Bush is undoubtedly the worst, stupidest and most inept president in the history of the United States. The man defines incompetence and arrogance. His visions are fueled by the heady elixer of hubris. He styles himself the instrument of God's will but surely the hand directing him is Loki's.
He came to the White House with the swagger of omnipotence. Here was the POTUS for the red meat crowd, personified by the neo-conservatives and their Project for the New American Century. Bush was to be the man to remake the world in America's image, to complete the legacy of Ronald Reagan.
George Bush was none of the things his movement expected. From global warming to global security he has failed his nation miserably. He ripped the veil off America's weaknesses and vulnerabilities while simultanousley emboldening her enemies and alienating her former friends. He brought war to Afghanistan and Iraq and lost both (at least by the objectives he announced when he began his adventures). He smothered the incomparable American military with wars it can neither win nor escape.
Not content with focusing on the challenges he was already incapable of tackling, Bush had to throw the rest of the world into turmoil with his pathetic Bush Doctrine, as bellicose and fascist a pronouncement as the western world has seen in almost 80-years. This president put every other nation and group of nations on notice that his America would use military force, if required, to pre-empt any other nation or group of nations from ever ascending to a point where it might rival the U.S. economically or militarily. The laws of war would no longer govern the United States which would act pre-emptively on the strength of its own perceptions.
The Bush Doctrine ought to have been met with angry protest and denouncement within the United States and among America's allies but that didn't happen. The Democrats, the American people and the rest of the west exemplified by NATO remained mute and complacent.
The Bush message was heard with alarm in some corners, notably Russia and China. The boom in world oil and gas prices has reinvigorated Russia's economic clout while that country is led by a shrewd, brutal and calculating president, himself an old Cold Warrior from the KGB.
Vladimir Putin has seen one provocation after another issue out of Washington. The United States has driven the expansion of NATO to Russia's very borders and has tried to supplant Russian influence with its southerly neighbours such as Kazhakstan and Turkmenistan. The US has shown Moscow that it is entirely willing to launch pre-emptive war on false pretences, something the Russians have experienced before in the 1940's. Now the Americans want to put anti-missile batteries right on Russia's doorstep. At the same time America has sparked arms races in China, India and Russia itself. This too is the Bush legacy.
Against this backdrop, Bush's Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, goes to Moscow today for meetings with President Putin. This is the woman who, just a few years ago, dismissed Russia as a "weak and incoherent country."
According to a report in this week's issue of The Economist, Rice will be met by a Russian leader heavy on suspicion and very light on goodwill toward her country's regime.
"RUSSIA is a strong, sovereign and prosperous country, surrounded by enemies and traitors who are bent on undermining its geopolitical power. Upstarts such as Estonia and Poland are trying to spoil Russia’s far more important relationships with proper European countries, such as Germany or France. The freshly-baked European Union (EU) members act on the instructions of America, a hypocritical and arrogant dictator of the world order, which pretends to be a democracy but in fact is closer to the Third Reich.
"This, in short and perhaps a bit exaggerated, is the view of Europe from behind the Kremlin wall, intensified by the state media, and shared by many Russians.
"Russia’s sense of power has been enhanced over the weekend by Mr Putin’s brinkmanship in central Asia. To the irritation of the White House, Russia has apparently persuaded Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to build a pipeline for the export of gas through, rather than around, Russia. If it actually goes ahead this would spoil American plans for a trans-Caspian pipeline which is seen as crucial for diversifying sources of energy to Europe.
"Russia’s rhetorical hostility towards America is reaching levels unseen since the cold war ended. Indeed, even in the late Soviet period anti-American propaganda was less emotional and certainly less sincere than it is today. The question now is whether the noisy words will be translated into action. That may become a bit clearer at the end of Ms Rice’s two-day long visit to Moscow."
It's unlikely that the Bush regime will try to defuse the tensions between Washington and Moscow. This is one president who has shown himself utterly incapable of correcting his mistakes. That means these problems will be left to simmer while the world awaits the next leaders who will take over from Bush and Putin. We can only live in hope.
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