Maravi

'Bush's war on terror is tragic'

'Bush's war on terror is tragic'
By Larry Moonze in Havana, Cuba
Thursday August 07, 2008 [04:00]

FORMER head of the US Interests Section in Havana Wayne Smith has said President George W Bush’s open-ended ‘global war’ on terrorism has made the world far more dangerous. And Smith said Americans were not nearly as well informed as they should be especially about foreign policy matters. Smith told the Granma that it would take other US presidents years to correct the situation left by President Bush.

“No. Bush’s call for an open-ended ‘global war’ on terrorism has left us with a world that is far more dangerous. It is tragic, really,” Smith said in response to a question on whether President Bush’s war on terror had accomplished its objectives.

A career diplomat for 25 years, Smith worked for the US State Department from 1957 to 1982. He served as executive secretary of the team of President John F Kennedy for Latin America, as representative in Argentina, Brazil and the former Soviet Union, and as head of the US Interests Section in Havana from the end of the 1970s to the early 1980s.

Smith noted that immediately after the September 11, 2001 terror acts, the world stood with the United States.

“That included the Cuban government which immediately expressed its solidarity with the American people and offered to cooperate with the United States in a struggle against terrorism,” he said. “The Bush Administration did not even reply.”

Smith said had President Bush concentrated the efforts of the US against Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and worked within the international system and with full respect for international law, it would have continued to have the support of most other governments, including the Cuban.

He said rather than that, however, President Bush soon downgraded the US efforts in Afghanistan against Al-Qaeda and invaded Iraq.

“Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with Al-Qaeda nor the terrorist attacks of 9/11 September 11 against the US,” Smith said. “The war in Iraq has been nothing but a bloody, destructive and costly distraction, and one not supported by the international community.”

He said worse still, President Bush also adopted the doctrine of preventive war that gave the US the right to attack any nation it judged to be a threat whether the United Nations or anyone else agreed with that.

Smith said President Bush also insisted upon claiming vast prerogatives of the presidency on all matters related to national security whether those were within the Constitution or not, thus undercutting if not eviscerating the careful system of checks and balances.

“It will take other presidents years to correct this situation left to us by George W. Bush,” he said. “And meanwhile, it has resulted in loss of respect and support for the US within the international community.”

Smith said Americans were not nearly as well informed as they should be especially about foreign policy matters.

“That they are beginning to wake up and be better informed, however, is suggested by the fact that support for and confidence in the Bush Administration has reached an all-time low,” he said. “In other words, the more Americans learn about Bush’s foreign policy, the less they like it.”

And Smith said he favoured Barack Obama for presidency in the November elections.

“We’ll see. I’m betting on Obama,” he said.

Meanwhile, Smith said there was a growing campaign in the US to make known to the American people the truth about the Cuban Five.

He said currently, the average American was unaware and “tends to think of them simply as ‘Cuban spies.’

“In my view, the decision of the three judges in Atlanta with respect to the Cuban Five was simply wrong and would seem to have been politically inspired,” said Smith. “At some point, let us hope, justice will be done.”

Labels: NEOCONSERVATISM, TERRORISM

posted by MrK @ 4:07 PM