And Now My Criticism of Bush

Not enough imagination. The man was handed a moment in history where we could have really made some revolutionary changes in how our economy operates (the oil question) and how our foreign policy and relationships to other states work.

But he let stale organizations like the UN, the news media, and the oil oligarchy (saudis-oil companies-car manufacturers) befuttle him and cause him to try to hedge all of his bets.

9/11 offered an opportunity to change the Middle East and our relationship with it. We must:

a. Depend less on their oil.
b. Pay more attention to the oppressive situation of their citizens.
c. Recognize we have a signficant number of enemies in the region.

I'll give Bush credit for his boldness at the beginning. He recognized b and c and wasn't afraid to talk about it. I liked that. But as soon as Iraq started to get a little messy, he lost all his boldness and replaced it with stubborness. And he never recognized a...he gambled that making a friendly Iraq would help ensure stable oil, rather than trying to rethink oil altogether.

We need three or four pieces of action going on at the same time that will help solve our problems in the Middle East, and be able to adjust our resource allocation by seeing the relative progress. Instead, we tossed everything into Iraq as keystone issue.