Decision Points In President Bush's Iraq

“Decision Points” is an enlightening reflection by President Bush on his perception of the pivotal decisions and actions he had made during his presidency. In the chapter of “Iraq”, Bush recounts his thoughts and explains his rationale in detail why he made the big decisions on implementing a troop surge in Iraq in 2006. He describes how his coercive diplomacy has been a failure in addressing the threats from Saddam Hussein. For him, Iraq war seems to be unavoidable to safeguard his nation. As I go through the chapter, I am typically looking for the most decisive factor that pushes Bush to implement the Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sadly, I got nothing. But Bush does point out that the operation would bring peace and freedom to both nations as he mentions “the best way to protect our countries in the long run was to counter their dark vision with a more compelling alternative which was freedom” (pg 231). However, I personally think Iraq war is the triumph of New Conservative Ideology which the American government thinks that they should remain hegemonic in the world and be responsible for helping a fractured country rebuild by “owning” Iraq (pg 237), my speculation is based on what Colin told Bush during the NSC meeting.
I am really surprised to discover that Bush has actually strategically planned the war for many years. All these years, he has been criticised for being too rush into war, but that’s because he never explain them more thoroughly in public, and now he managed to defend himself steadfastly by proving to the world that USA is well prepared for the battle (pg249). This has shown him as a man who has perseverance and principles and stick to them to the best of his ability. And the decisions he made were more intelligent and practical than I