If you’re expecting President George Bush to make some kind of policy change in Iraq, don’t hold your breath.
At his press conference yesterday he gave no indication that he’ll do anything but stay the course — not just on the question of whether to pull out immediately (there is a split among Americans on that) but on the question of whether there need to be major, substantive changes to existing war policy to speed up a desired victory and pullout.
It doesn’t matter if you’re anti-war and want the U.S. out of Iraq ASAP — or a conservative who wants to commit more troops or shift to a more aggressive strategy. It looks like it’ll be “stay the course” (aka “the status quo”) all the way:
President Bush defends the U.S. mission in Iraq, saying that calls for American troops to leave the country are premature. The president warned that the situation would only worsen without U.S. troops — and that “chaos in Iraq would be very unsettling in the region.”
On Iraq, the president has been facing growing criticism of his policies. Pressed at a news conference on whether it’s time to change his overall strategy, President Bush said it was too early.
“If you think it’s bad now, imagine what Iraq would look like if the United States leaves before this government can defend itself and sustain itself,” the president said. “Chaos in Iraq would be very unsettling in the region.”
But one reporter noted that the conditions the president mentioned for pulling out of Iraq resemble the country’s status before the United States led an invasion of it.
“You know, I’ve heard this theory about everything was just fine until we arrived, and kind of ‘we’re going to stir up the hornet’s nest’ theory,” the president said. “It just doesn’t hold water, as far as I’m concerned. The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizens before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East.”
This was yet another verbal and mental linkage by Bush to 911. But he insisted that wasn’t what he did:
President Bush was then asked what Iraq had to do with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“Nothing,” the president said. He paused before continuing, “Nobody has ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq was a… the lesson of Sept. 11 is, take threats before they fully materialize.”
But that has most assuredly not been the case over the past few years. Administration officials did — at the very least — strongly insinuate and leave the impression that Iraq was tied in with 911 in officials in public statements. Read this.
You can read the full text of the president’s press conference HERE. He was a bit more combative and energetic than usual.
What was clear from the press conference that no matter what kind of future justification will be used, Bush intends to stick with existing policy in Iraq with few major changes. Is it because he genuinely believes the policy? Or is part of it that he doesn’t want to have any kind of a major pullout on his watch? The answer for that will come years from now, when historians (and former administration members) have their say.
But in the meantime, Bush seems more than ever a lonely political figure who is in danger of being left behind when it comes to public opinion — which now seems to be solidifying as a national consensus…much as the public hit a moment in the 1960s when it was evident that the country had soured on Vietnam.
The latest poll is NOT good for his administration (and the GOP if it makes staying the course an issue):
Opposition among Americans to the war in Iraq has reached a new high, with only about a third of respondents saying they favor it, according to a poll released Monday.
Just 35 percent of 1,033 adults polled say they favor the war in Iraq; 61 percent say they oppose it — the highest opposition noted in any CNN poll since the conflict began more than three years ago…
…A bare majority (51 percent) say they see Bush as a strong leader, but on most other attributes he gets negative marks.
And it’s more bad news, particularly for GOPers running for re-election who have hitched their political futures to the Cult of Political Personality:
Most Americans (54 percent) don’t consider him honest, most (54 percent) don’t think he shares their values and most (58 percent) say he does not inspire confidence.
Bush’s stand on the issues is also problematic, with more than half of Americans saying they disagree with him on the issues they care about.
That’s an indication that issues, not personal characteristics, are keeping his approval rating well below 50 percent.
Actually, that’s the only silver lining for Bush in this poll: it shows he can rebound if he changes course.
But there are few signs that George Bush intends to change course on the war, how it is framed in terms of Democratic opposition, or on some other policies that have not proven popular with the bulk of American voters.
So the question becomes: how do Americans — Democrats, independents and concerned Republicans — bring about a change in course?
GOPers in tight Congressional races are probably not smiling too much after GWB’s press conference performance yesterday.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.