PRESIDENT Bush, in his farewell speech, while defending the US military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, harped on the same theme of the world being a safer place than it was before 9/11. True, there had been no major terrorist attack in the US ever since. However, the question remains, at what cost? There should be little doubt that the emerging chaos we see around is the result of the Bush legacy. Not only the Middle East and South Asia, but also the entire globe has been sucked into a terrible maelstrom. The harm that has been done to Afghanistan and Iraq is of immense proportions. Over one hundred thousand civilians have died in Iraq alone, with rampant poverty, hunger and disease exacting its toll on the war-ravaged people. The ethnic polarization among Shia, Sunni and Kurd populations has never been more pronounced. The American military adventure around the world forms a glaring example of state terrorism that, among other things, has weakened democracy contrary to the claims made by the US President. As things stand, the American image in the Muslim world has been badly tarnished and the anti-American sentiment threatens a wider conflagration. The pity is that the Bush Administration did not spare Pakistan and resorted to the strategy of making drone attacks inside the tribal areas, something that has greatly destabilized the country. The ongoing war in Gaza, when seen in the broader context, is yet another example of the US trying to achieve its strategic objectives. Rather than trying to find a solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict, it encouraged the Zionist entity to further its hegemonic deigns through the use of brute force. The result: massacre of 1200 Palestinians, with the Israeli air force not even shying from bombing UN Headquarters. The US's express support to Israel and blocking of the ceasefire resolution that emboldened the Zionist entity to continue its disregard of Palestinian life, makes it complicit in the whole affair. Little wonder President Bush according to ratings has been the most unpopular president in US history. President-elect Barack Obama, on taking charge, would have no easy task in reversing all that.