Remember when we thought George W. Bush was the worst US president ever?

From bad to worse: While policies formulated by Bush (left) were misinformed and had terrible consequences, the writer feels he didn’t come across as badly as an irresponsible Trump did when he was president. — EVAN HABEEB-USA Today Sports/AP

TWENTY years ago this month, on Sept 12, 2002, US President George W. Bush stood before the United Nations and warned that Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was a “grave and gathering danger”, setting the stage for an invasion six months later based on false premises about super-destructive weapons and purported connections to the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington DC.

The war ultimately killed 4,500 Americans and more than 100,000 Iraqis, and cost the United States US$800bil (RM3.6tril at today’s rates), according to the Council on Foreign Relations.