Who Am I?

I've been the leader of the most militarily powerful nation on earth.

I sparked a war and was enormously successful, at first.

Instead of consolidating my victory, I put my first war on hold and went out to topple a vile dictator.

I didn't listen to the many warnings of potential disaster before launching my invasion. I even rejected the advice of my top generals. Instead I surrounded myself with sycophants as incompetent as myself.

I contrived justification for pre-emptive attack.

I skilfully used deceit and half-truths to blind my own people.

I believed that governmental power should be mine, not some legislature's.

I endorsed arrest without charge, detention without trial and I approved of torture.

I brought suffering and death to tens of thousands of innocents.

I waged war according to ideology and what I wanted to believe instead of military principles.

I squandered my nation's treasury on a futile military quest that I could neither win nor leave.

After six years of slowly deteriorating war, I gambled everything on one last, grand operation even though it was almost certain to fail.

As my failures became inescapable I began blaming everyone else, even my own people, for my incompetence.

I made my nation a pariah to all other nations.

I stand as the worst leader in my country's history.

Who am I?