OPINION:
COMMENTARY:When pundits are asked to name the best presidents of the 20th century, Harry S. Truman’s name always comes up. That is interesting because when he left office in 1953 he had even lower approval ratings than President Bush now has.
Truman was eligible to run for another full term but his own party said, “Don’t even think of it.” He and incoming President Eisenhower didn’t like each other. Compared with today’s cordiality between President Bush and President-elect Obama, that transition was worse than a cold shower.
How will history judge Mr. Bush? Many of us won’t be alive when the first verdict is in. He has made his share of mistakes. The one issue for which most of the public blames Mr. Bush derives from their belief that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. Thus in their view, there should have been no invasion of Iraq and no war in Iraq.
Retired Army Maj. Gen. Jerry R. Curry, despite his exceptional achievements, both military and academic, in his retirement has become partisan and, hence, controversial in some circles. However, his credibility seems strong. Gen. Curry has said on that matter history will judge differently because U.S. operatives found a large stockpile of concentrated natural uranium (550 tons) in the heart of Baghdad.
This is known as “yellowcake” and is evidence Saddam Hussein had a nuclear program designed to make weapons of mass destruction. The operatives had to sit on the information to prevent terrorists from finding out about and trying to acquire the uranium.
Ambassador Joseph Wilson denied Mr. Bush’s claim that Saddam wanted to buy yellowcake from Niger. Mr. Wilson had been told otherwise by a former prime minister of Niger, Assane Mayaki. Mr. Wilson did not give the report any credibility and insisted there was no evidence Iraq wanted to purchase yellowcake. British intelligence insisted Iraq did seek yellowcake from Niger. Mr. Bush chose to ignore Mr. Wilson and cited British intelligence on the issue. Mr. Wilson and his CIA wife, Valerie Plame, who sent him to Niger, were outraged.
The media picked up on this story and Mr. Bush has paid dearly ever since. Mr. Bush could have had the last laugh on his critics when the yellowcake was discovered. Instead he has not said a word while the yellowcake was extracted from Iraq and passed through two continents before it safely reached Canada.
Mr. Bush has not acknowledged this transaction but the Associated Press has. Gen. Curry said Mr. Bush put his country above his personal reputation. He said we can thank God Mr. Bush did what he did. Gen. Curry said Mr. Bush wanted to keep the information quiet because terrorists are still concentrated around Iraq.
Gen. Curry went on to tell the whole story of Mr. Wilson and Mrs. Plame, who pushed the line that Mr. Bush lied. They insisted it was Karl Rove who exposed her as a CIA operative and should go to jail for doing so. The leak, it turned out, came from Richard Armitage, another Bush opponent.
Much of the public continues to believe Mr. Bush was responsible for the leak, never mind that Mrs. Plame had not been in the field as a CIA operative in six years.
Gen. Curry said, “Now that Saddam’s uranium has been made public, and is no longer a threat to the world, do you think these aforementioned parties will apologize and admit they were wrong? Don’t count on it.”
Paul M. Weyrich is chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.
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