No, it was not the Iraq war.
Pop quiz: What's the best policy undertaken by any American president in the past half century? |
I'll get to that, but first a reminder that this week marks the 20th anniversary of President George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq. I opposed the Iraq war. I also covered it and reported on the misuse of intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the war. I hammered Bush for the eight years he was in office over Iraq, torture, Guantánamo, Darfur, reproductive health and so much more. |
And the best policy by an American president? I'd argue that it was something else that Bush did that constitutes his most important legacy and that we in the media under-covered. At the same time that Bush was planning the Iraq war, he was also starting the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, a global effort to turn the tide of the AIDS epidemic. PEPFAR continues to this day and has saved 25 million lives worldwide so far. Think about that: 25 million lives. What can compare with that? |
When Bush rolled out this initiative, he wasn't reacting to pressure from Democrats, and he didn't gain any political benefit. The American public is still mostly unaware of PEPFAR. My take is that we in the media bungled things in both directions: We were insufficiently skeptical of the Iraq war in the run-up to it, and then we were insufficiently attuned to something that Bush did that was actually heroic. |
I know, I know. This messes with our heads. How can I, as a good liberal, accept that the most important humanitarian initiative by the United States in modern times wasn't organized by some progressive Democrat whom I admire but rather by an evangelical Republican whom I disagree with on almost everything? |
Much of the world is denouncing Bush this week for the invasion of Iraq, and in my view he deserves every ounce of criticism for that war. But if we're going to be honest in weighing history, we also have to credit him for saving 25 million lives and turning the tide of one of the worst epidemics in history. So my Opinion colleagues and I made this video about Bush's landmark effort to fight AIDS. |
I've periodically made videos abroad — from Bahrain, Madagascar, North Korea and various places in between — with Adam Ellick, the head of Opinion Video. Adam was surprised to hear me speak reverentially about a Bush program that he'd never heard of and that had saved so many lives. Good journalism is unpredictable and forces us to see things in new ways, and Adam thought this video would help us all do just that. If you're as liberal as I am, it may discomfort you to see praise showered on a man you maybe can't stand. That's fine. We don't aim to preach to the choir but to call the shots as we see them — which sometimes means discomfiting the choir. |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
Forward this newsletter to friends to share ideas and perspectives that will help inform their lives. They can sign up here. Do you have feedback? Email us at opiniontoday@nytimes.com. |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment