Why didn't Dubya listen to Daddy Bush?

Question

George H.W. Bush had this to say in a 1998 Time article, when asked why US/UN forces didn't go after Saddam Hussein after Iraqi forces were pushed out of Kuwait in the Gulf War.

"We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. The coalition would instantly have collapsed, the Arabs deserting it in anger and other allies pulling out as well. Under those circumstances, furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-cold war world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the U.N.'s mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the U.S. could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different--and perhaps barren--outcome."

Seems like besides running the CIA and being a one term president, Bush Sr. was a a fortune teller, for his own kid.

Answer 1

But do you really think his own kid was listening? He was out there smokin crack when his daddy was being a fortune teller...

Answer 2

In the battle of guns versus butter in the United States , guns are winning by a crushing margin. As the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina clearly demonstrated, the militarization of America has severely weakened the capacity and the will of the federal government to provide for the general welfare of its citizens. Despite being the wealthiest nation in history, 13% of our citizens live below the poverty level and the US is the only industrialized nation which does not provide health care to 100% of its citizens. There is no excuse for the existence of poverty in a nation with such vast resources. The aristocrats build their fortunes on the backs of the poor and working class, and the incestuous relationship between the federal government and the corporate vehicles of the wealthy is one of their primary means of maintaining the gross disparity of wealth which exists in the United States. Former President Eisenhower warned us against allowing the military industrial complex to become too dominant, but as Andy Rooney recently opined on 60 Minutes, we ignored Ike's sage advice.



Among other things, Rooney said:



"We still have 139,000 soldiers in Iraq today.

Almost 2,000 Americans have died there. For what?

Now we have the hurricanes to pay for. One way our government pays for a lot of things is by borrowing from countries like China .

Another way the government is planning to pay for the war and the hurricane damage is by cutting spending for things like Medicare prescriptions, highway construction, farm payments, AMTRAK, National Public Radio and loans to graduate students. Do these sound like the things you'd like to cut back on to pay for Iraq ?

I'll tell you where we ought to start saving: on our bloated military establishment.

We're paying for weapons we'll never use.

No other Country spends the kind of money we spend on our military. Last year Japan spent $42 billion. Italy spent $28 billion, Russia spent only $19 billion. The United States spent $455 billion."





One hand washes the other, brother

Answer 3

Dubya is not quite as smart as HW, who is himself not the brightest bulb in the presidential box, and he believed that his daddy had screwed up and it was his duty to fix it--family business you see. Invading Iraq was close to the top of Dubya's agenda when he decided to run in the first place. Obviously just my opinion, so apply the usual grain of salt...

Answer 4

If you read the Bush family biography, it says exactly why:
He thinks his old man is an absolute pussy.

Answer 5

Because he let himself be controlled by a bunch of neocons with ties to the defense industry....follow the money.

Answer 6

Bush Jr. only recently got his hearing back, he must not have had it then.