President Bush took the blame the day after the election for the Republicans losing the house majority. “I’m obviously disappointed with the outcome of the election and, as the head of the Republican Party, I share a large part of the responsibility,” Bush said at a White House news conference on November 8th. He is willing to take responsibility for the political problems, but how about the problems with the war. It seems to me that Bush is sidestepping his responsibility in the problems that are going on with the war. In a bit of irony, Don Rumsfeld is stepping down as Defense Secretary because of the way things are going. I think that Rumsfeld made a lot of dumb moves in this war, but why isn’t the President willing to accept responsibility there as well. After all, he is the head of the armed forces as well as the head of the Republican party.
Now, I am not saying that he should resign, or that he needs to be impeached. We set a very dangerous precedent when we start impeaching presidents because we don’t agree with their decisions. That way leads to chaos and political instability and that benefits no one. All I’m asking for is an admission that the buck stops at the top and that whatever mistakes were made in Iraq are in part due to decisions made by Bush. Yes Rumsfeld should leave and should have left earlier. He bungled the preparation for this war and needs to bear responsibility for that. Bush has to accept that he took Rumsfeld’s advice when he shouldn’t have, but Bush has other jobs beyond national defense and removing him now causes ripples far beyond that of Rumsfeld leaving.
So, Mr. President: there is more the being president then playing political games. Take some responsibility for your other mistakes.
Nate Baxley