Accurate recall won't be flattering to Bush

In response to the Sept. 22 article "History may well revise view of Bush" written by Charles Krauthammer, I have to comment on why President Bush should not be viewed well by history. Mr. Krauthammer compared Bush's presidency to that of President Truman on how Truman left office with a low approval rating but then, as he wrote, "history has revised that verdict." I truly hope that history does not do that with President Bush.

First, let me say that I totally approved of the way Bush handled the crisis immediately after 9/11. He did a great job of uniting the country, calming our shaken nerves and letting us know that "the ones who knocked down these buildings will hear from all of us soon." He did the right thing to go into Afghanistan and start to take down the terrorists responsible for the attack on our soil.

Then the President got into his mind (and refused to let go of) the idea that we should invade Iraq. That Iraq had anything at all to do with the mission we were on in Afghanistan is insane. Mr. Krauthammer wrote how Bush will be graded on his stand of going ahead with the surge and how the surge worked. But Mr. Krauthammer, if President Bush never had the crazy idea of invading Iraq in the first place, then we wouldn't be talking about the surge. That is what history should look at when determining how we will grade this administration. Why were we there in Iraq in the first place?

The President of the United States is called "the most powerful person in the world" for a reason. Being in that position has great responsibilities and one of the greatest and most dangerous powers of the President is to send troops off to war. That is not something that should be taken lightly. There are stories now that Bush and his team didn't have all the facts correct so of course made a mistake and the wrong decision to go to war. No, deciding on white socks when you should have picked black ones is a mistake. What President Bush did was totally irresponsible! With a power so great as sending Americans off to war is something you review and review again and review again to see if that is the only way to go. That is a decision where a lot of lives are at stake. President Bush rushed this invasion and in turn there are now over 4,000 dead soldiers.

THAT is what Bush should be view on for his place in history. THAT is what should stand out for his time in office. History should see it as we see it today and not how is seemed somewhere in the distant past. Bush should be viewed in history as his presidency stands now... a total failure.

Shawn Killackey

Mundelein