In a gaffe that has sent the internet into frenzy, Former US President George W Bush, while trying to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, mentioned ‘Iraq’ instead of Ukraine. In an apparent slip of tongue, the Republican stalwart that the “brutal invasion of Iraq by one man” “was unjustified” when he actually meant “invasion of Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin”. However, the irony is that it was the Bush administration in power when the US invaded Iraq in 2003 along with its coalition partner.
The former US President was addressing an event on the importance of democracy and threat to democracy in the US and abroad.
George W Bush, alleging that democracy in Russia is a farce, said: “Russian elections are rigged. Political opponents are imprisoned or otherwise eliminated from participating in the electoral process. The result is an absence of checks and balances in Russia and the decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq. I mean of Ukraine,” he said.
Bush, recovering quickly from the gaffe, also murmured, “Iraq, too,” adding, “Anyway, 75,” referring to his age.
Watch the video here:
In 2003, the US, along with its allies United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland invaded Saddam Hussein-led Iraq. The then US President George W Bush and then UK Prime Minister Tony Blair had justified the invasion saying their aim was “to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein’s support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people”. However, an inspection team from the United Nations had found absolutely no such weapon before the start of the invasion.
People were quick to react to the accidental and ironic slip of tongue by George W Bush.
Mehdi Hasan, senior journalist and MSNBC anchor, slammed Bush for the gaffe, and wrote: “I’m not laughing & I am guessing nor are the families of the 1000s of American troops & the 100s of 1000s of Iraqis who died in that war.”
Writer Marisa Kabas took to Twitter and said: “if i could tell my 17-year-old self one thing it’s that george w. bush will admit to unjustly invading iraq in 17 years.”
Libertarian party of Tennessee also took a jibe at the GOP leader. It wrote: “We applaud George W. Bush finally admitting that the invasion of Iraq was unjustified and illegal.”
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
