Last Updated on September 22, 2021
An Iraq War veteran confronted President George W. Bush at an event in Beverly Hills on Sunday, shouting that he needed to apologise for the millions dead because he “lied” about WMDs and connections between the deposed Iraq government and the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Bush, who led America into the failed 20 year war in Afghanistan and the costly war in Iraq, spoke at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills on Sunday night, as part of the “Distinguished Speakers” series of speaking events. According to the organizer’s website, Bush was meant to speak on eight years in the Oval Office, the challenges facing our nation in the 21st century, the power of freedom, the role of faith and other pressing issues.”
During the event, Mike Prysner, a veteran of the Iraq War, stood up and interrupted the speech. “Mr. Bush, when are you going to apologize for the millions of Iraqis who are dead because you lied?” Prysner exclaimed, with the crowd booing. “You lied about weapons of mass destruction, you lied about connections to 9/11, you sent me to Iraq in 2003, my friends are dead!” Prysner was swiftly escorted from the event by security, continuing to shout to Bush to “apologize” for his actions. In the video, Bush can be heard telling Prysner to “sit down and behave yourself,” rather than offering an apology.
— Mike Prysner (@MikePrysner) September 20, 2021
Jeb Sprague, a lecturer at UCLA, proceeded to interrupt Bush’s speaking event in Long Beach on Monday following Prysner’s protest. “Your war destroyed my cousin’s life. Your war created a nightmare for my family,” Sprague reportedly said. “He’s a shell of his former self. Tens of thousands of Americans and a million Iraqis have died,” calling on Bush to be arrested for war crimes.
Bush, who voted for both Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden 2020 in opposition to President Donald Trump, used a portion of his speech commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to also single out “domestic extremists,” saying they are “children of the same foul spirit and it is our continuing duty to confront them.” Whilst not singling out a particular ideology, government agencies have labelled supposed right-wing terror threats as top priorities. In June, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated that white supremacists present the largest current terror threat to the country.
Bush has also joined former presidents Clinton and Obama as honorary co-chairs of the “Welcome.us” organization designed to bring Afghan migrants into the United States following the defeat of coalition forces to the Taliban in the war that he started. As National File reported, the organization is currently funded by the Open Society Foundation, run by leftist billionaire George Soros, among others.
