October 22, 2006 - Bush HAS changed his stated goals for Iraq

President Bush claimed, “our goal hasn’t changed” in Iraq (“Bush willing to shift tactics to win in Iraq”, 10-21) but the truth is his administration’s stated goals have continuously changed.

First Bush said the goal was to rid Iraq of its (nonexistent) WMDs, then the goal was to remove Saddam and his sons, then the goal was to establish a demonstration model of Arab democracy, and most recently the goal seems to be the imposition of order and stability, perhaps by installing another “strongman” like Saddam!

On the other hand, Bush’s unstated goal probably hasn’t changed: To control Iraqi oil by establishing a huge permanent military presence near the epicenter of the world’s largest oil deposits.

Regardless of his stated and unstated goals, the wheels long ago flew off Bush’s foreign policy wagon.

In one sense this is a very good thing because no nation should ever benefit from a war of aggression.

---