In the course of today’s history in the United States, George W. Bush could go down in history as the worst president of the early twenty-first century. Granted, this is still the early twenty-first century. We is still ninety-two years left until we reach the twenty-second century.
A recent poll by CNN/Opinion Research Corp. which was released on Thursday, May 1, shows that almost three-fourths of the American public thinks that Bush is doing a terrible job as president. That puts Bush’s disapproval rating at an all-time high. At the same time, that would put Bush’s approval rating at an all-time low.
CNN’s polling director Keating Holland says that asides from Bush, no other president has suffered a disapproval rating in any CNN or Gallop Poll. However, Bush’s approval rating is still better than those of Harry Truman and Richard Nixon during their time in presidential office.
But, the poll in regards to Bush’s disapproval rating also reveals that approval and support of the war has decreased. Almost 70 percent of the American public are against the war.
On an ironic note, this comes on the fifth-year anniversary of when Bush had his moment of “Mission Accomplished.”
Back in the end of March, the death toll for US troops had gone past the 4,000 mark. It would seem as if Iraq and the state of the US economy have a strong link with each other.
Recently, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan were at the Capitol in Washington DC to express frustration at the current state of the GI Bill. In that regard, Democratic Senator Jim Webb of Virginia and presumed GOP nominee Senator John McCain of Arizona are in a Senate battle to get Webb’s addition to the GI Bill passed. Bush has threatened to veto the bill.
Both Amnesty International and the International Red Cross released individual reports saying that Iraq has turned into a devastating humanitarian disaster.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz explained that the current cost of Iraq is at least $12 Billion a month.
A Pentagon study explained that a weak security infrastructure in Iraq is hurting its reconstruction. It blamed government corruption for the weak security in Iraq.
In connection, two US senators had requested a congressional inquiry into Iraq’s oil revenues. They explained that so far, most of the costs of Iraq’s reconstruction have come out from US taxpayers. The two of them explain while Iraq has money in banks across the world, it has done little to help with its own reconstruction.
These are examples of what continues to contribute towards disapproval of the Iraq War.
Iraq has been the main platform of John McCain, who has said that this issue could either make or break his candidacy. In most cases, Iraq could be linked with the current state of the US economy. So far, the economy is the one issue on the minds of both Democratic and Republican voters.
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