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Originally Posted by Mike AI
Do you really think Bush went into Iraq to bolster his election chances?
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part of me does Mike, part of me does. look at his senior, he went into iraq, finished it up early, had the highest approval ratings of the time while the war was ongoing, and then in a 2 year span after the war, the economy went to shit, his approval ratings went down and he lost.
at the time of the re-election for junior, the war was the biggest story, and although there was negative press about the prison scandal, that was probably not foreseeable with bush at the time he orginially declared. Most importantly, how many people chose bush over kerry because bush was a better "War" president - remember the whole "flip flop" issue protracted over the Iraq background. That had a MUCH larger impact than the prison scandal, the reality is most americans could give a fuck how we treat foreign prisoners.
Under a microscope the prison scandal was bad, but from a macro perspective, the war helped him win the election. He created a situation where the country needed him to stay in power because we were in the middle of something - and thats exactly how the republican party played it off. The real question is, do I think bush & co. are that deceiving and self-centered as to declare a war in order to benefit themselves. The answer is.. not fully, but I'm sure it factored in somewhat
i would say my logic of this situation is right in line with his decision to allow arab ownership of our ports.