Posted on 03/31/2026 12:42:30 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
There are no erasures or do-overs when it comes to waging war. Bush often described his role as that of “decider,” and there were no more consequential decisions during his presidency than the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq...
Bush has said that the hardest part of being in office was reading the casualty reports and seeing the brutal consequences of his policy first-hand: placing calls to sobbing widows, looking into the eyes of Gold Star families, visiting injured soldiers at Walter Reade and Bethesda as they practiced using a prosthetic limb or struggled with PTS. (Bush does not use the “D,” pointing out that such psychic wounds represent not a disorder but an injury that can be overcome.)
Task & Purpose spoke to several of the veterans depicted in the portraits — all deeply devoted to the former commander-in-chief — who wondered whether his extraordinary painting project might be a form of art therapy: a way of exorcising his own post-traumatic stress or “moral injury,” a not-uncommon response to the experience of sending service members into combat.
“Based on the paintings that he’s done,” suggested Robert Ferrara, an Army veteran, who was wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq, “it has to be therapeutic for him.” ...
Bush said. “In a sense, it is therapeutic. Not that it unburdens my soul. It’s not the painting that unburdens my soul. It’s the belief in the cause and the people — to the extent that a soul needs to be unburdened. The painting was a joyful experience, and if that’s therapy, that’s therapy.”
(Excerpt) Read more at taskandpurpose.com ...
Does he mention anything about Texas being invaded?
Never
He had a good idea but had no plan and no exit strategy. Rule 1 of war is have clear goals,Rule 2 have an exit plan. This led to Vietnam II and we never accomplished anything other than screwing up a country. Did I do what I was required when over there? Sure but it was a noggin scratcher most of the time. Think of it as we were jousting with nerf jousting poles because there was no clear objectives other than we would rotate out in 13 months. That was no way to win a war.
The only winner in taking out Saddam, was Iran.
They’re his buddies. He ought to. It’s not like he doesn’t know.
If you cut the paintings out of the book and only read about the soldiers’ stories, it’s almost readable. That is until you think about the sacrifices made for no real American purpose. His paintings aren’t worth crap to me, but then again neither was his presidency.
“I enthusiastically supported him as president and he was far better than Kerry or Gore would have been, but I certainly don’t think much of him now.”
Same with me.
There are no erasures or do-overs when it comes to waging war. Bush often described his role as that of “decider”. Did he paint any pictures of the WMD’s he found in Iraq?
GO AWAY BUSH!
100 percent
I just wish dubya would just keep his moth shut and fade into obscurity. Nobody wants to hear from him anymore. How many vets were killed under his watch? If he 100% wanted a war, why didn’t he at least invade Iran?
Please note:
This is a nine year old article dredged up for whatever reason by the original poster.
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