Even on his way out of office, President Bush still has an active role in making sure the decisions he has made will not negatively affect the people behind him.
Whoever assumes the position of president will inherit the ramifications of the poor, uninformed choices Bush has made. He or she will have to steady an uneasy economy and take on one of the biggest tasks of safely rectifying the Iraq situation.
The latter task will prove to be a daunting one because of Bush’s recent refusal to allow complete troop withdrawals before he leaves office.
It all could be a lot easier than Bush would have us believe. His contentions that soldiers should stay their course are undermined by the obvious consensus of the Iraqi people that we are not needed nor wanted in their country.
Bush has already pulled several army brigades out of Iraq, so it’s not a foreign idea. The next president should have the chance to establish a legacy outside of cleaning up the previous administrations’ mess.
The strategy for Iraq has been one of the primary issues that have been debated on this year’s campaign trail.
But no matter what the strategy is, it will leave our next president with the unenviable position of having to finish something he or she did not start.
That being said, it’s only right that the person responsible for our entry into Iraq be the one to help us exit safely.
Akeem Anderson for the Editorial Board.