On 29 Oct 2004 at 11:55, John Lee wrote:

>  Put yourself in GWB's shoes and tell us all...what would
> you have done

Well, I do not believe that I would have invaded Iraq if that is your
question.  I do not think that I would have permitted the House of
Saud to evacuate its family members resident in the United States to
flee my jurisdiction.  I do not believe that I would have decided to
go out and make any more trouble for my country than I already faced.

Maybe I would have sat down with some of my senior non-political
staff and listened to what they had to say.  Maybe some of the
insights offered by these loyal Americans who have served their
country well for decades might have given me some guidance in the
treacherous waters that I was now forced to navigate.  Maybe I would
have reflected deeply on what options really existed and on which
ones were likely to bear fruit and which were likely to turn sour.
Maybe I would have thought about what should be done and what could
be done instead of shooting at my favourite target.

Maybe I was have looked to other countries and said, we are all in
this together so what do you think should be done about it.  Maybe I
would have had a coherent long-term policy worked out by the best and
the brightest my country had to offer, with measurable goals and
realizable processes established.  Maybe I would have sold these
ideas to the world.  Maybe I would have used a little arm twisting, a
little horse trading to sell them.  Maybe I would have had to push a
little aggressively in private to obtain consent.  Maybe I would have
had to settle for less than all that I wanted.  Maybe I would have
had to compromise.  Maybe I would have had to put the interests of
the world ahead of my own.  Maybe I would have avoided pushing other
countries to adopt policies that could only publicly humiliate their
governments.  Maybe if I had then the amount of arm twisting and
horse trading necessary might not be so great after all and the
amount of discontent and resistance much reduced.  Maybe if I could
not get enthusiastic endorsement then at least I might have obtained
reserved consent.

But whatever I ultimately chose to do, I would not have done it
alone.  I would not have proceeded without the consensus of the
people upon whom my country's security and prosperity ultimately
rest.  I would not have gone out of my way to sow discord and
distrust where none grew before. I  would not have attacked Iraq.

I think that I would have put my country's best interests ahead of my
personal beliefs.  I do not think that I would have lied to my people
to obtain their grudging consent for acts that most had deep
misgivings about.  I do not think that I would have focused my hatred
on one individual and ignored all the contra-indicators.  I do not
believe that I would have led my country into a bottomless pit of
violence and destruction, and in the end have had no better plan than
to continue the orgy of killing until someone else stops me because I
lack the wit to stop myself.

I would have gone after the money, the contacts, the enablers, the
feeders of intelligence and the purveyors of hatred.  I would have
sought out those that fund and agitate.  Whether high or low, whether
prince or pauper, whether christian or muslim, atheist or agnostic, I
would have had them found, outed and brought to justice before a
court, not shot out of hand.

But, had I attempted this I would be dead. Because you see, the great
crime in all this is that it is mostly an illusion.  You do not have
to look far to see which country is exporting radical islamic
fundamentalism, and it is neither Iraq nor Iran.  You do not have to
delve deep to discover where the money comes from.  You do not have
to be terribly well informed to discover just where the epicentre for
most of this discontent arises.

What was the nationality of the majority of hijackers on 9/11.  Where
was OBL born and raised?  Where does he get his money? Why is he
still at large and Saddam in prison?  What is the home of the most
holy places of Islam?  Whose form of government is so distant from
the secular ideal of western philosophies and representative
democracy that its workings are barely comprehensible to Europeans?
Whose purpose does a United States invasion of Iraq serve? Quo Bono?
Not I.  Not You. Not the United States. Not the west.  But somebody
benefits, who?

Why is the obvious overlooked and the trivial attacked?  Because that
is the safe way.  Not safe for you, not safe for the United States,
not safe for the world.  But it is safe for those that profit under
current economic and political arrangements and wish to perpetuate
them.  It is safe for those that do not wish to bring unwelcome
attention to themselves by pointing out to the emperor that he wears
no clothes.  It is safe for those that demand instant gratification
for their emotional desire for revenge and wish to undertake no great
risk to themselves to obtain it.

What would I have done?  I would have sought a solution and not
created another problem thereby; that is what I would have done.  I
do not claim that I would have found one, but I would have tried and
at the very least left no more of a mess than I started with.

I would not have eschewed violence, but it would not have been my
principal instrument.  I would not have demanded unanimity from other
states but nonetheless I would have forged a large majority in
support of whatever action was taken.  I might have covertly
subverted the rules of the United Nations in seeking out those
responsible, but I would not have overtly defied that organization
either.  In the end, no matter how they are realized in fact, results
must be perceived to have been legitimately obtained to be sustained.
 Therefore illusion is a necessary part of statecraft.  But duplicity
and deceit are not and in practice cause more harm than good.

I would have tried to be president, to all Americans and not just
those that agree with me, knowing that this is impossible but
understanding that the attempt must be made.  I would have cherished
the ideas of justice and humanity, compassion and forbearance that
the United States constitution seeks to establish, not just for
Americans, but for all the people of the world.  I would have told
the American populace that their fear, though understandable, if
heeded is more destructive than any terrorist bomb and must therefore
be resisted.  That anger and hate cannot guide a people safely out of
tragedy.  That in the long run there is only one world and we must
all find a place for everyone within it.  That is what I would have
done.

But evidently some would much rather just kill.

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