What is exactly George W Bush's legacy?

It was pathetic watching outgoing US President George W Bush's last press conference the other day in Washington. It was sad that the world's most powerful leader did not even know himself and what he has done over the past eight years. He literally messed up the United States and the world. Of course, he could have done better, a lot better, if he was a little bit more humble. Throughout the press interview, his body language told the whole story of his troubled presidency. Bush tried to be at ease with the journalists but he could not hide the fact that he is a failed president.

Bush admitted that it was a mistake to put a banner saying "Mission Accomplished" on an aircraft carrier during the early stages of the Iraq war. Since that infamous incident, the US's entanglement in the country has grown multi-fold and US and "coalition of the willing" casualties have increased dramatically. After five years, the US is now contemplating an exit strategy. The torture of prisoners in Abu Ghraib detention centre is an even worse episode because it has portrayed the US in the most evil and negative way. Nobody ever imagined that such practices could happen under a US administration. As it turned out, torture has been used widely as a technique to extract information. The prison at Guantanamo Bay has tarnished the US's reputation and its human rights record.

These have been the main reasons why the US's international popularity has reached a low ebb. Bush was wrong in saying that his country's moral standing has not been damaged by his administration's policies and actions. He is a leader who believes too much in himself. His strong religious background and upbringing made him the kind of leader he became. No wonder, during the interview, he showed no remorse related to his decisions.

He claimed his legacy would be judged by history in the long run. But it will not be kind to him because he could have changed the world for the better and created a better environment for the US. Instead, he chose to use force, and a lot of it. The impact of the Iraq War on the US economy is very clear to see. Billions of dollars are being spent each month on continuing the war, and the US economy - as big and as viable as it is - just cannot sustain it. Now the US is in recession and the future will be tough.

In a way it took Bush's kind of evangelistic perspective and his failed policies to change the political equation in US politics. American voters are fed up and they want change. Other politicians failed to push for such changes, except for Barack Obama.

So after eight years of Bush, there will be a new leader. Barack Obama is dynamic and he is going to change the US for the better. There are so many expectations of the new leader, hopes for change as have rarely been seen before. When he is sworn in on January 20, he will work to restore the US to its rightful place in the world. So far, his foreign policy and security teams have been impressive; they reflect the kind of pragmatism that the Obama presidency will strive to achieve.

In the future, Bush will have to ponder whether the US and the world could have been a different place than it is today. He will soon write his memoirs and earn a lot of money for it - as have so many of his predecessors. So whatever he decides to put down in black and white will represent history - his interpretation of history. The problem is,the history he writes will be weighed against what other historians throughout the world perceive.