is that history will not judge it, it will forget it.
Ask the average American today why we fought in the Mexican-American War and they will not know.
Ask any American why we fought in the Barbary Coast War and they will not know.
Ask any American why we fought in the Phillipines and they will not know.
Ask any American why we fought in World War I and they will not know.
Ask any American why we fought in Honduras and they will not know.
Ask any American why we fought in Nicaragua and they will not know.
Ask any American why we fought in Panama and they will not know.
Ask any American why we fought in Grenada and they will not know.
It is doubtful most Americans even know that we ever fought in some of these countries. There are in fact, over 234 instances in which America used its military forces in various "engagements" throughout the world. (
http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/foabroad.htm) I would recommend reading Howard Zinn's masterpiece "A People's History of the United States" for a detailed and eye-opening explanation as to why our fingers were/are in so many pies, so to speak.
In this particular and very tragic war, in which the reasons we went to war were so distorted and muddled, it is a virtual certainty that future generations will not know the truth about why we invaded Iraq in 2003.
So Mr. Bush, I say to you: history will not judge you or your actions. The scholars will. The "Liberal elite" college professors will. The military historians will use you as a case study of what not to do. But for that next generation, those future average Americans, they will never learn why so many had to suffer for your lies and distortions. And it certainly seems that neither will we...