Until now, Millard Fillmore was considered the worst U.S. president of all times. But he did not do anything bad - he was simply a non-entity. He was not even elected. As vice president he succeeded President Zachary Taylor after his sudden death in 1850. Fillmore's presidency had the unlucky 13th number, into the bargain.
George W. Bush was considered the second worst president for a long time, but his reputation has fallen so low that he will probably beat Fillmore. It is never easy to listen to Bush without irony or sarcasm. But this time, those who were listening to his speech in the Pentagon were truly taken aback judging by the expressions on their faces during a televised report.
The president had to mark this sad anniversary before leaving the White House. One newspaper in Washington described Bush's attitude as a heroic self-delusion, and another criticized him for total divorce with reality.
"Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision..." (Nobody in the United States argues against that although a different reason for starting the war has always been quoted - prevent Iraq from getting weapons of mass destruction).
"For the terrorists, Iraq was supposed to be the place where al Qaeda rallied Arab masses to drive America out [?!]. Instead, Iraq has become the place where Arabs joined with Americans to drive al Qaeda out," Bush said. He declared that "in Iraq, we are witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin Laden [?!], his grim ideology and his murderous network... And the significance of this development cannot be overstated."
Bush went on to say: "The battle in Iraq is noble, it is necessary, and it is just. And with your courage, the battle in Iraq will end in victory."
His speech had no substance except for the wishes of victory. Even his other statement in May 2003, when he proclaimed with pomp "Mission Accomplished" on board the USS Abraham Lincoln was not so embarrassing compared to what he said on March 20. The mission has been going on for five years now, and the end is not in sight.
Americans have never had any illusions about their president's intellect. Some have been using politically incorrect words when describing the president, while his supporters prefer to keep silence - for all his flaws, he is moving somewhere... But now almost everyone is wondering who wrote and approved this speech.
The evil Osama bin-Laden came in handy. The U.S. president announced on March 20 that "The surge has done more than turn the situation in Iraq around - it has opened the door to a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror." But there is still a long way to go to the victory in this war.
In response to the publication of Prophet Mohammad cartoons in Denmark, Osama promised to stage such impressive acts of terror compared to which all the bombings of Iraqi and Afghan villages will pale into insignificance.
Osama bin-Laden appeared at the right time again. The Iraqi anti-terrorist coalition has almost fallen apart. Those who are still there take virtually no part in military operations. Europe obviously has to be reminded about terrorism, particularly on the eve of the April NATO summit in Bucharest, at which the United States will try to compel its NATO allies to participate in the war in Iraq for a while.
Osama bin-Laden is a very strange man. The world's best intelligence services are searching for him, but he has long been sending his messages to commonly known sources. They say he is somewhere in a Pushtu area in Pakistan's Vaziristan on the border with Afghanistan. He has almost turned into a Muslim Zorro - nobody knows where and when he will appear but everyone has got used to this mask and its exploits. It is easier to fight against evil and proclaim victories over it when he is there.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
