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The following article is a recent speech delivered by George Soros in the National Press Club Washington, DC. He is a Billionaire Investor and Philanthropist, the Founder and Chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC. 

The US Billionaire Investor and Philanthropist, George Soros went on saying: “President Bush has used 9/11 to further his own agenda which has very little to do with fighting terrorism. There was an influential group within the Bush administration led by Vice President, Dick Cheney that was itching to invade Iraq long before 9/11. The terrorist attack gave them their chance. If you need a tangible proof why President Bush does not deserve to be re-elected, consider Iraq. The war in Iraq was misconceived from start to finish, if it has a finish.”                                                                                             

Soros added: “It is a war of choice, not necessity, in spite of what President Bush says. The arms inspections and sanctions were working. As long as the UN inspectors were on the ground, Iraqi deposed Dictator, Saddam Hussein could not possibly pose a threat to our security. We went to war on false pretences. The real reasons for going into Iraq have not been revealed to this day. The weapons of mass destruction could not be found, and the connection with al Qaeda could not be established. President Bush then claimed that we went to war to liberate the people of Iraq.”

The US tycoon said that all his experience in fostering democracy and open society had taught him that democracy could not be imposed by military means. And, Iraq would be the last place he would choose for an experiment in introducing democracy, as the current chaos demonstrates.

Of course, as the occupying power, the US had an obligation to maintain law and order, but it failed to live up to it. The US should have cared about the people of Iraq, it should have provided protection not only for the oil ministry in Iraq but also the other ministries, museums and hospitals. Baghdad and the country's other cities were destroyed after American troops occupied them. When the occupying troops encountered resistance, they employed methods that alienated and humiliated the Iraqi population. The way US soldiers invaded Iraqi homes, and the way they treated prisoners, generated resentment and rage. Public opinion condemns the US worldwide.

Soros then goes on to say, The number of flip-flops and missteps committed by the Bush administration in Iraq far exceeds anything can be expected of. First the US dissolved the Iraqi army, then tried to reconstitute it. First it tried to eliminate the Baathists, then turned to them for help. First Bush installed General Jay Garner to run the country, then he gave it to Paul Bremer and when the resistance movements became intractable and uncontrollable, he installed an Iraqi government. Soros added: “The man we chose was a protégé of the CIA with the reputation of a strong man, a far cry from democracy. First we attacked Falluja over the objections of the Marine commander on the ground, then pulled them out when the assault was half-way through. More recently, the troops started bombing Falluja again.

The Bush campaign is trying to put a favorable spin on it, but the situation in Iraq is dire. Much of the Western part of the country has been ceded to the insurgents. Even the so-called Green Zone, a small enclave in the center of Baghdad where Americans live and work, is subject to mortar attacks. The prospects of holding free and fair elections in January are fast receding and civil war looms.

Addressing the audiences in the National Press Club Washington DC, The Founder and Chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC, George Soros said: “Bush's war in Iraq has done untold damage to the United States. It has impaired our military power and undermined the morale of our armed forces. Before the invasion of Iraq, the US could project overwhelming power in any part of the world, it cannot do so any more because the US troops are bogged down in Iraq. Afghanistan is slipping from our control. By invading Iraq without a second UN resolution, the Bush administration violated international law.

In the final part of his speech Soros says, by mistreating and even torturing Iraqi prisoners, the US violated the Geneva Conventions. President Bush has boasted that we do not need a permission slip from the international community, but his actions have endangered our security, particularly the security of our troops. Our troops were not trained for occupation duties. Many of our troops return from Iraq with severe trauma and other psychological disorders. Sadly, many are also physically injured. After Iraq, it will be difficult to recruit people for the armed forces and we may have to resort to conscription. There are many other policies for which the Bush administration can be criticized but none are as important as Iraq. Iraq has cost American people nearly 200 billion dollars, an enormous sum. It could have been used much better elsewhere. The costs are going to mount because it was much easier to get into Iraq than it will be to get out of there.

It is a quagmire that many predicted. I predicted it in my book, The Bubble of American Supremacy. I was not alone: top military and diplomatic experts desperately warned the President not to invade Iraq. But he ignored their experienced advice. He suppressed the critical process. This is Bush's war, and he ought to be held responsible for it. It's the wrong war, fought the wrong way.

Soros added that there was a lot more to be said on the subject and he had said it in his book, “The Bubble of American Supremacy.”                  

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The following article is a recent speech delivered by George Soros in the National Press Club Washington, DC. He is a billionaire Investor and Philanthropist, the Founder and Chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC. 

Soros begins by saying, I have never been heavily involved in partisan politics but these are not normal times. George W. Bush is endangering the US safety, hurting its vital interests and undermining American values. George W. Bush ran on the platform of a so-called “humble” foreign policy in 2000. If we re-elect him now, we endorse the Bush doctrine of preemptive action and the invasion of Iraq, and we will have to live with the consequences.

As the founder and chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC tries to show, the US people are facing a vicious circle of escalating violence with no end in sight. But if we reject the Bush policies at the polls, we shall have a better chance to regain the respect and support of the world and to break the vicious circle.

Soros then added: “When George W. Bush was elected president, and particularly after September 11, I saw that the values and principles of open society needed to be defended at home. September 11 led to a suspension of the critical process so essential to a democracy, a full and fair discussion of the issues.

President Bush seemingly silenced all criticism by calling it unpatriotic. When Bush said, “either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists,” Americans heard alarm bells ringing. Soros believed that Bush was leading the US in a very dangerous direction.

The billionaire investor and philanthropist, the founder and chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC went on saying: “We are losing the values that have made America great. The destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York was such a horrendous event that it required a strong response. But the President committed a fundamental error in thinking: the fact that the terrorists are manifestly evil, does not make whatever counter-actions we take automatically good. What we do to combat terrorism may also be wrong. Recognizing that we may be wrong is the foundation of an open society. President Bush admits no doubt and does not base his decisions on a careful weighing of reality.”                                                                   

For 18 months after 9/11 Bush managed to suppress all dissent. That is how he could lead the nation so far in the wrong direction. President Bush unconsciously played right into the hands of bin Laden.

The invasion of Iraq was not justified. War and occupation create innocent victims. We count the body bags of American soldiers; there have been more than 1000 in Iraq. The rest of the world also looks at the Iraqis who get killed daily. There have been 20 times more. Some were trying to kill American soldiers; far too many were totally innocent, including many women and children. Every innocent death helps the terrorists' cause by stirring anger against America and bringing them potential recruits.

The US tycoon addressing the audiences in the National Press Club Washington, DC added: “Immediately after 9/11 there was a spontaneous outpour of sympathy for US people worldwide. It has given way to an equally widespread resentment. There are many more people willing to risk their lives to kill Americans than there were on September 11 and Americans security, far from improving as President Bush claims, is deteriorating. I am afraid that we have entered a vicious circle of escalating violence where our fears and their rage feed on each other. It is not a process that is likely to end any time soon. If Americans re-elect Bush as president, they are telling the world that the US people approve his policies, and they shall be at war for a long time to come.”

In continuation of his speech the Founder and Chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC, George Soros says: “I realize that there is a widespread belief that President Bush is making us safe. The opposite is true. President Bush failed to finish off Bin Laden when he was cornered in Afghanistan because he was gearing up to attack Iraq. And the invasion of Iraq bred more people willing to risk their lives against Americans than we are able to kill, generating the vicious circle I am talking about.”

President Bush liked to insist that the so-called terrorists hate the US for what the Americans are, a freedom loving people, not what the government does. Well, Bush is wrong on that. He also claims that the torture scenes at Abu Ghuraib Prison in Iraq were the work of a few bad apples. He is wrong on that too. They were part of a system of dealing with detainees put in place by US Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, but the troops under his command in Iraq are paying the price. How could President Bush convince people that he is good for their security, better than John Kerry? By building on the fears generated by the collapse of the twin towers and fostering a sense of danger.

George Soros added: “At a time of peril, the US people rally around the flag and President Bush has exploited this. His campaign is based on the assumption that people do not really care about the truth and they will believe practically anything if it is repeated often enough, particularly by a President at a time of war.