My four-year-old question to President Bush

I have uncovered this article from my archives, about the question I asked US President George W. Bush four years ago. No changes have been made to the article. Read on.

Let us ask Bush; who is next after Saddam Hussein?

By Ansbert Ngurumo, writing from Kyoto, Japan

On Tuesday morning March 18, 2003, I watched and listened to the US President, George W. Bush, as he gave a 48-hour ultimatum to Iraq President Saddam Hussein. He appeared seriously determined to go to war. I sensed he rather blamed himself for having delayed to hit Iraq. He spoke convincingly why the US should keep on its track to pursue its way against President Saddam Hussein. Sounding like a world prefect, issuing commands and threats for Saddam Hussein to “leave Iraq” within 48 hours, Bush turned himself into a man with infinite powers. His tone and facial expression charismatically drew sympathy from first-time listeners. I was not one of them.

Seated beside me, as we sipped a cup of tea and watched Bush’s live speech on a TV screen at the Kyoto International Conference Centre, was Ina Thombozi, a Malawian TV presenter. Both of us hated the speech. We disagreed with Bush’s approach. We disliked the US president’s conclusion. We saw no sense in the ultimatum. It appeared to us that in Bush’s mind, Saddam Hussein was the sole Iraq problem. The US president wants him and sons (excluding daughter) out of Iraq. What blessed deeds should we expect after expiry of the deadline?

Bush’s point of view is as if Iraq’s problem lies in Hussein’s trouser pockets. Worse still, Bush cannot tell the world that he knows the next "good" ruler of Iraq. Moreover, he cannot prove himself good enough to declare Hussein too bad to live and rule Iraq. He ignores calls from his own people against the war. He cannot listen to them, but he wants them to listen to him as he pushes forward his wish to invade Iraq.

This is a kind of democracy that Bush is trying to impose on the world. This Bush-democracy categorically defines Saddam Hussein as a tyrant. Bush sees no other tyrant than Hussein. Indeed, to Bush, history is not good enough a teacher. Nevertheless, even without history, he just needs to think twice before deciding whether his military invasion of Iraq is the only alternative.

He is bent on invading Iraq. Moreover, let him not deceive the world, he is not invading Hussein due to the latter’s adamancy, but to due his (Bush) determination. Right from the beginning, he sent troops to Iraq. He had made up his mind for the invasion. He wants Saddam Hussein dethroned or dead.

Is he is talking of rebuilding Iraq after the war? He must be oblivious that millions of his subjects have billions of demands from his government - as he gets close to the end of his tenure in office. Will it be his last one?

He is predicting coming out victorious, the same thing he said before waging war on Afghanistan two years ago in search of terrorist suspect Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda. Nevertheless, bin Laden, then declared wanted dead or alive, has escaped Bush’s mighty arm. Neither bin Laden nor the Al Qaeda was destroyed. Such is Bush victory!

Is he trying to prove right South Africa’s former president, Nelson Mandela, on matters of sightedness and thoughtfulness with regard to the so-called current strongest president on earth? What is strength if wisdom is lacking? In my opinion, the era for mighty rulers is over. This one is for those with brains, not swords, bombs and arsenals. Bush lives in a different world. I am convinced he will not make up his mind. Neither will Hussein give up now. War is certain. Souls will perish, as Bush sarcastically insists, telling military and civilian personnel in Iraq: "Don’t destroy oil wells..."

Anything is possible. President Hussein might leave Iraq - perhaps miraculously. His sons might follow him. The US might win the war `swiftly`, as Bush puts it. Nevertheless, the question remains. Will that be the end of the problems between Iraq and the Bush government? Will it be a solution to world peace problems?

My conviction is, uncertainty will prevail. Weapons of mass destruction will abound, whether in Iraq, the US or somewhere else. Indeed, it will be too late for Bush and his allies to know where they went wrong. One wonders if they will seek excuses and demand forgiveness.

This article was written on March 18, 2003 at 13:10hrs, immediately after President Bush's speech. The author, then, working as a Tanzanian correspondent with the Johannesburg-based Media24 Africa, was attending the 3rd World Water Forum taking place in Kyoto, Shiga and Osaka, Japan (March 16-23 2003) when President George W. Bush delivered the charismatic speech to declare US military invasion of Iraq.