Former President George W. Bush delivered an optimistic message on Veterans Day to Americans, urging them to “stay positive” and that better days are ahead as global wars appear to worsen.
“My advice is to stay positive because if you study world history or American history, we go through cycles of depression,” the 43rd president told Fox News on Friday.
As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues, and the new conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas appears to intensify, the former Commander in Chief wants Americans to “realize how blessed we are to live in this country” despite the challenges that many face at home and abroad.
“Yes, the images are grim and yes, there is violence. But ultimately, love conquers hate,” he told the outlet while hosting his high school’s annual Warrior Ride at the Bush family’s Crawford ranch in Texas.
The former president acknowledged that his message about love may seem “cheesy” and that the world and the nation 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 December 7, 2004 at Camp Pendleton, California. Getty Images
“I think if everyone hugged each other instead of yelling at each other, the world would be a lot better off,” he told the outlet.
The former president has strongly condemned the attacks by Hamas terrorists on October 7 against Israel, which have unleashed the war in Gaza and growing instability in the Middle East.
“The George W. Bush Institute strongly condemns the heinous terrorist attacks against Israel that claimed dozens of innocent civilians,” his institute wrote in a speech on the day of the attack.
Bush urged “the United States and our allies to unequivocally stand with Israel, its government and its people, and support Israel’s right to defend itself against these threats.”
Bush riding with veterans during the fifth annual Bush Warrior Ride at his Prairie Chapel Ranch outside of Crawford, Texas. Corbis via Getty Images
“Attacks on free and democratic states anywhere are attacks on all of us, whether in Israel, Ukraine or anywhere else,” he added.
Bush is no stranger to addressing war.
During his eight years in the Oval Office, Bush’s leadership came to light less than a year after taking office when the United States was attacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001, sparking the global war on terrorism.
Bush talks to rescuers, firefighters and police officers from the rubble of Ground Zero on September 14, 2001, in New York City. fake 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 who served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air National Guard from 1968 to 1974 during the Vietnam War, hosted the ninth annual 43-mile ride for American Heroes.
“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 being commissioned as a second lieutenant in 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 whom under his administration, were “good people.”
“These men and women have been wounded,” Bush said of many veterans who joined him Friday.
“Instead of sitting back and feeling sorry for themselves, they decided, in this case, to use mountain biking as a way to recover.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn