Former President George W. Bush delivered an optimistic Veterans Day message to Americans, urging them to “stay positive” and that better days are coming as global wars seem only to get worse.
“My advice is to stay positive because if you study the history of the world or the history of the US, we go through cycles of decline,” the 43rd President told Fox News Friday.
As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues, and the more recent conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas appears to be escalating, the former Commander-in-Chief wants Americans to “realize how lucky we are to live in this country” despite the many challenges at home and abroad. country.
“Yes, the image is grim — and yes, there is violence. But in the end, love trumps hate,” he told the outlet while hosting his institute’s annual Warrior Ride at the Bush family’s Crawford ranch in Texas.
The former POTUS admitted his message about love may seem “crazy” and the world and the country may be going through dark times, but he remains “optimistic” because he knows it will “happen.”
Former President George W. Bush speaks to Marines on the 63rd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 2004 at Camp Pendleton, California.Getty Images
“I think if everyone would hug each other instead of yelling at each other, the world would be a better place,” he told the outlet.
The former president strongly condemned the October 7 Hamas Terrorist attack on Israel, which has sparked the war in Gaza and the growing instability in the Middle East.
“The George W. Bush Institute strongly condemns the brutal terrorist attack on Israel that claimed the lives of many innocent civilians,” his institute wrote in a statement on the day of the attack.
Bush urged “the United States and our allies to stand firmly with Israel, its government and people, and support Israel’s right to defend itself against this threat.”
Bush rides with veterans during the fifth annual Bush Warrior Ride at Prairie Chapel Ranch outside Crawford, Texas. Corbis via Getty Images
“An attack on a free and democratic country anywhere is an attack on all of us, whether in Israel, Ukraine, or elsewhere,” he added.
Bush is no stranger to dealing with war.
During his eight-year tenure in the Oval Office, Bush’s leadership came under the spotlight less than a year after he took office when America was attacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001, sparking a global war on terror.
Bush speaks to rescue workers, firefighters, and police officers from the ruins of Ground Zero on September 14, 2001, in New York City. Getty Images
As president, he launched the US invasion of Afghanistan to destroy al Qaeda and capture Osama bin Laden after 9/11.
Bush, a Veteran himself who served as a first lieutenant in the US Air National Guard from 1968 to 1974 during the Vietnam War, has organized the ninth annual ride for America’s heroes across 43 miles.
“Veterans Day is important,” he explained. “I try to symbolize that by hanging out with veterans.”
Former President George HW Bush poses with his son George W. Bush after he became a second lieutenant with the Texas Air National Guard, at Ellington Field near Houston, Texas in 1968. Corbis via Getty Images
He explained that “mountain biking with veterans is really fun” and that the veterans who served, some of them under his administration, are “good people.”
“These men and women have been wounded,” Bush said of the many veterans who joined him Friday.
“Instead of sitting around and feeling sorry for themselves, they decided, in this case, to use mountain biking as a way to recover.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
