Did Pres. Bush’s Invasion of Iraq Pave the Way for Trump’s Presidency? | Amanpour and Company

Former president Bush has never admitted his war was a mistake, but the same cannot be said for some of his former officials. Professor Melvyn Leffler raises the issues of responsibility and accountability in his new book, "Confronting Saddam Hussein: George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq." He discusses with Walter Isaacson.

Originally aired on March 20, 2023

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Major support for Amanpour and Company is provided by the Anderson Family Charitable Fund, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim, III, Candace King Weir, Jim Attwood and Leslie Williams, Mark J. Blechner, Bernard and Denise Schwartz, Koo and Patricia Yuen, the Leila and Mickey Straus Family Charitable Trust, Barbara Hope Zuckerberg, Jeffrey Katz and Beth Rogers, the Filomen M. D’Agostino Foundation and Mutual of America.

Watch Amanpour and Company weekdays on PBS (check local listings).

Amanpour and Company features wide-ranging, in-depth conversations with global thought leaders and cultural influencers on the issues and trends impacting the world each day, from politics, business and technology to arts, science and sports. Christiane Amanpour leads the conversation on global and domestic news from London with contributions by prominent journalists Walter Isaacson, Michel Martin, Alicia Menendez and Hari Sreenivasan from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City.

#amanpourpbs

[lladnar]

I find this man's argument lacking. Cheney and Rove both thought the U.S. could pave over Iraq easily, then take over their oil fields. Their belief was that this would give the republican party of the U.S. an unstoppable edge in the voters' minds for generations. Rove spoke often of this on any talk show that would have him.

[EH]

Wow… they didn’t think it through! Who woulda thought 🙄😒

[kesart]

This flys in the face of the research done by numerous journalists and historians. Mr. Leffler (sp?) strikes me as partisan, a Bush/Cheney apologist. This is very disappointing.

[MrTeff]

Wisdom? Isn’t that what we learned in Vietnam? W’s father knew it would be a mistake. Young W was all about hubris.

[biglebowski]

Two important facts omitted here. Who created Saddam, good old usa. And it was Saudis that took down the towers not Iraq.

[lynns]

I thought it was all about oil and pipelines, lol. A lot of things led to Drumpf, and this is definitely one of many.

[proudhammer]

This Leffler guy is a total embarrassment. Sad and begging for change.

[Blonde]

Bush took all his advice from Cheney… and Cheney made millions off this war

[Rnankn]

Public opinion accepted a foreign invasion because of a culture and national value-system that refuses to consider criticism and lacks insight or self-reflection. Without humility, dialogue and the openness to change, it is impossible to take responsibility and acknowledge self-limits and imperfections. In other words, when you are always right, then foreign enemies are found to blame.

The policy was likely much more cynical. Crises are seen as opportunities, and it is clear Iraq was a predetermined target. Eliminating WMDs and a dictator would have complimented opening petroleum supplies to global markets. The strategic failure was a misunderstanding of democratization. Assuming democracy is a cause or consequence of liberal capitalism is at the heart of American national myth and identity, but it is wrong. In Iraq, democracy splintered along religious and sectarian lines, it did not produce a robust economy. And the failure occurred again with Russia and China, just in the opposite direction. The development of modern economies did not provoke strong democratic rights and free elections.

[saxmanphd]

War has been the biggest factor contributing to right wing extremism seen today. Great interview with experts on this channel about that topic.

[rustywater]

Does the American deaths include the military/vet suicide epidemic?

[Echavarriacoaching]

Way too nice in his evaluation. Systems thinking and long term understanding is a critical capability for any leader. We need more emotionally aware and systems leaders. Not only interest and tactical considerations but why we have the interests we have and for what end.

[ellisonpearson]

the downward hubris and deceit spiral of modern America started with the hostage crisis—same players

[arktom]

With everything going on right now, we'll have regrets for things we did not participate in...Investment should always be on any creative man's heart for success in life.

[heartofodds]

Please, take him, yesterday, and take Libya's destroyers too

[dkpqzm]

The quick and short answer is YES. Bush/Cheney opened the door for the teabaggers to morph into MAGA.

[gwynneshippy]

And while the powers that be seek to divide us..
Most of us do not want war..

[ForTheTurnstiles]

Incomplete and inadequate analysis. Bush admin and CIA knew far more than this guy admits. The invasion was a product of nothing more than neocon ideology and good old American greed. Regarding facts, he should have cited the Brown University Cost of War Project…over 800K Iraqi civilians (200K likely children) dead either from combat action or the years of deprivations that followed…and I blame the interviewer for that lack of preparation.

[nancychace]

The history of this is still enigmatic. Most likely so much more than meets the eye. The intel, and the interpretation of it were lacking; i.e. Saddam Hussain had WMD at that time. It was shown he did not. Also, how could the info of Jan. 3, '03 have been so dismissed?
There might have been far greater motivations than discussed here, like retribution for the Vietnam war? Look at where we are at in today's world, and where it's all headed, if the planet survives, so to speak.

[yonayehezkel]

How Human Nature Works

Human nature is the desire to receive, also called “desire to enjoy, ” and it functions by receiving what is beneficial to itself and rejecting what is harmful. Everything in our lives is built upon this calculation where we first try to distance ourselves from harm, and then seek how to draw ourselves closer to what is beneficial.

Human nature also includes a multilayering of systems that work simultaneously on still, vegetative, animate and human levels. One of those systems is our bodily one, which operates involuntarily. If our bodies are healthy, then they know what is good for them and draw that goodness to themselves. After the bodily system, there is the emotional system, which also functions relatively according to instinct. From the emotional system, we move to the mind, and from the mind to the intellect, and so on. That is, we have systems over systems that concurrently work on receiving what is beneficial and rejecting what is harmful.

Such is human nature and the essence of our lives. Our every desire, thought and action operates according to the calculation, “How can we receive what is most beneficial to us and reject what is harmful?”