History and Politics

I was reading an interesting article on HNN (History News Network) this morning about how historians rate G.W. Bush's presidency. Not surprisingly they rate it quite poorly - 81% view it as a failure. Many historians tend to be progressive and liberal, which undoubtedly explains part of their dislike and even hatred of Bush. In this aspect I am definitely part of the mainstream (although I am a big minority in the region I live). I am unhappy with Bush's domestic policies, especially his stance toward abortion, gay marriage, free speech, and civil rights. And while I do think that America continues to face a real threat from terrorists that won't go away just by us 'making nice' with the Middle East, I think the war in Iraq was a tremendous mistake. It was undertaken based on false information, poor intelligence, and a misunderstanding of the nature of the terrorist threat. However, now that Iraq has been destabilized, I don't see any quick way for the United States to get out of the country, without making it a recruiting ground for terrorists. This I believe will be seen as the greatest failure of Bush's presidency in the future.