Why is it that people blamed Bush for the war in Iraq when the president cannot declare war? The war was declared by congress and could not have been in any way "started" by the president because even if he asks congress to declare war they would not have to do so. P.S. The democrats or anyone in congress controlling it could have stopped it whenever they wanted to. I am sorry but this I have never actually understood. What is your take?
Well, pres. Bush has the power to SEND the army over there..Vietnam is/and is NOT an official war..Congress never declared it, nixon..i think just sent the army over there..
Wel pres. Bush I still blame because he sent them over seas, and has not requested anything to end the war.
Bush is the figurehead of the government (actually a puppet). They don't know who else to be angry at. I would blame the cabinet who didn't agree to pull out of the war, but I don't even know who they are.
Yes, congress did officialy declare war. The president may only send a small group of soldiers, and must pull out very soon after. In other words, THIS IS OUR WAR!
[quote]Bush is the figurehead of the government (actually a puppet). They don't know who else to be angry at. I would blame the cabinet who didn't agree to pull out of the war, but I don't even know who they are.
The cabinet are effectivly advisors, and Bush isn't a figurehead, he is COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF in a war, so he has all the power nessessary for the job.
I'm not sure if this is correct, but someone said that congress can declare war, but then if the president doens't send anyone out we have to forfeit and lose.
Actually, I believe it was more of a the President's job to protect our nation when it is under attack. If we are attacked upon, the president has right to make a decision, based on the knowledge and research of numerous departments, to hold or to strike, no questions asked.
Bush is a corporatist who acts in the wills of corporations for profit. You think anyone cares about the Constitution anymore? Theres a new one, and its green.
Why is it that people blamed Bush for the war in Iraq when the president cannot declare war?
Hm, this would be weaseling in the form of taking a layperson's expression as literal truth.
What I mean is technically the president cannot 'declare war' but this is a relatively minor semantic detail of the balances of checks and powers in this case. What really matters is that the president professes (both in interviews before the Iraq war began, and more recently in reflecting upon his past presidency) to having an agenda of going to war, and it is this agenda that was acted upon. Furthermore Bush has conceded to the largest criticism made about the war: that it was ultimately begun on a false premise, in saying, to quote: "I regret the fficial&client=firefox-a">failure of intelligence..." that he claims ultimately led to his believing that going to war with Iraq was a good idea.
There are many other speculations as to his motives that would certainly have driven his advisors and influenced Congress into declaring war, but at this point it is clear that Bush, in speaking about this in the manner he has, is taking a great chunk of responsibility in the chain of events that led to the onset of war.
Furthermore, while Bush may have called it a "failure of intelligence", as did Howard, Blair was slightly more forthright in saying that his staff may have "sexed up" the reports to make going to war more appealing. I'm going to be moderate and stop short of flat out asserting that Bush's personal agenda directly swayed the minds of those investigating Iraq for WMDs, but I will point out that with the nature of the investigations and 200000 page reports, there is a lot of room for, shall we say, fuzzy interpretations, and, shall we say, erring on the side of 'caution' for the sake of, shall we say, 'defending America's freedoms.'
p.s. though on the other hand, the original poster has a point. Bush surely isn't the only one to blame. You could at least consider the roles of Rumsfeld and Cheney, and his advisors, and God-knows-who else.
The main reason people focus their anger at Bush is because the president is the figurehead, and when things go wrong, the fall guy. When there are too many elements to consider, it's easier to go for one and make them a scapegoat. That's just the breaks.
Because Bush lied to congress claiming the CIA told him that Iraq !!!WAS BUILDING WMDS AND THEY WERE A THREAT TO THE SAFETY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!!! 9/11!9/11!9/11! We must invade iraq, because the operation caused by lebanese egyptians a saudi millionaire living in afghanistan sheltered by pakistanis involved saddam hussein!
