My Politician of the Decade

2009 was a gripping end to the first decade in this country's history when we've only had a Labour Government - look how worse off we are as a consequence. But events within the last week highlight for me, the political event and theme of the decade - the war on terror. The war on terror has defined politics, at home and abroad, in the noughties. It has divided political opinion and often divided the nations of the world. However it is because the War on Terror has played such an important part in the politics of the last ten years that I'm naming George W Bush as my Politician of the Decade.

It has become almost a hobby of some to mock George Bush and for many he is a figure of hate. The shoe-throwing incident in Iraq last year probably summed up the world's opposition to George Bush. But like him or loathe him, nobody can deny that no other single person has played a bigger role on the world stage this last decade than George Bush did in his eight years as President.

I still remember the moment when I first saw the pictures of the World Trade Centre on September 11th 2001. George Bush's response to that incident was stern and decisive. He launched the War on Terror and so began an armed campaign against Al-Qaeda that is still ongoing today. Many people have died in those conflicts, soldiers and civilians. We even saw the full force of Islamic Terrorism on the streets of London and we were reminded only last week that the threat had not diminished. Barely a week seemed to go by in the noughties without some mention of Iraq, Afghanistan or another front in the War on Terror. Guantanamo Bay and accusations of torture on the part of US authorities have again dominated the headlines these past decade - both features of the War on Terror and the policies of George Bush.

Here in the UK, we have seen our own government follow where Bush led with the PATRIOT Act, with the disgusting attempts to lock up British citizens for 90 days without trial, the introduction of pointless Identity Cards and the increasing powers of state surveillance. This was not the first decade we'd faced the threat of terrorism in the UK but it seems Labour did not learn from previous government's mistakes in relation to Ulster.

Despite the prevailing attitude that one must despise President Bush and everything he stands for, I remain a supporter of his foreign policy endeavours. The spreading of freedom and democracy to the oppressed peoples of the world is a noble and admirable goal - George Bush succeeded in doing that. He was a steadfast supporter of Israel, a lone democracy in an otherwise oppressive region, something for which he should be praised. And one other important foreign policy action of George Bush his opponents conveniently ignore is his hard work in the fight against Malaria and HIV/AIDs in Africa. In George Bush's own words, he should be remembered for liberating 50 million people.

Was he perfect? Of course not. Did he make mistakes? Yes, but to quote John Major: a politician who has never made a mistake has never made a decision. George Bush will never rank amongst Washington, Lincoln, FDR and JFK as the most popular US Presidents. He will probably remain a world hate-figure for some years to come. But then again, being a great politician is not always the same as being popular. You don't have to be popular to change the world and in the noughties, George Bush certainly did do that.