George W. Bush is facing refreshed criticism for his Mission Accomplished stance on terrorism because of recent events in Iraq. Some say Bush is to blame for the rise of ISIS in Iraq because he didn’t actually accomplish the mission of Iraqi invasion and the quelling of terrorist cells. In fact, only the first initial steps had been taken.
Even countries who were never run by George W. Bush are taking some pretty low shots at the former president. German newspaper Die Tageszeitung published the iconic picture of Bush in front of the “Mission Accomplished” banner with his head replaced with the head of the ISIS leader, Shaker Wahib. Obviously, they blame Bush for the reconvening of terrorist groups like ISIS.
However, that sentiment is not unanimous among the American people. Many blame Obama and his weak foreign policy for the perceived freedom that terrorist cells seem to enjoy among their home countries that would allow them to reassemble easily. And some might point at the recent ill-advised release of five major terrorist leaders from Guantanamo.
Some folks, like Donald Trump, are now criticizing Obama’s lackluster actions against the ever-expanding ISIS. Trump thinks we need to bust in while we can and seize oil production facilities before they can be destroyed or taken over.
Now that ISIS extremists have seized one of Saddam Hussein’s massive chemical weapon factories, some are saying that Bush should have pushed even harder in the controversial search for weapons of mass destruction during his presidency and those that insisted they didn’t exist may now have a little crow to eat.
Though the materials still exist in the somewhat hidden factory, experts say it will be hard for the forces of ISIS to do anything with them.
“We remain concerned about the seizure of any military site by the ISIL,” Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, said in a written statement. “We do not believe that the complex contains CW materials of military value and it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to safely move the materials.”
Though these experts say that weapons probably can’t be made with Hussein’s old materials, probably isn’t okay with most Americans who obviously remain a major target for these terrorists.
Who do you think is to blame for the recent rise of ISIS?
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