Friendly Advice

27 June 2005



What the President Should Say

Tomorrow night, George W. Bush will address the nation in prime time live from Fort Bragg, North Carolina – home of the 82nd Airborne. His purpose will be to rally the nation behind his war in Iraq. If past performance is anything by which to go, he will make a great many statements devoid of meaning, but they’ll carry some patriotic feel good words that will be forgotten by the week-end. However, if he really wants to save his presidency (for the stakes are getting that big), here’s what he should say.

First, he must explain that it really is his intention to withdraw America forces from Iraq some day. There is still a large body of opinion in the Arab world that believes there will be Yanks in Iraq on Judgment Day. Mr. Bush needs to say flat out that he is working toward the day when the only Americans in Iraq are businessmen and tourists.

Second, he must address the criticisms his administration has ignored, the Downing Street memo being the most recent example. The point he must get across is that the troops are in Iraq now, and the past can’t be undone. The growing talk of impeachment is nonsense since the GOP holds both houses in Congress, but policy demands that the focus shift to the future and not replaying the past – having bungled Iraq so badly, there’s no percentage in such a replay for Mr. Bush.

Third, he must explain just how the boys and girls in khaki are coming home. He cannot set up a timetable, for he rightly knows such a timetable only gives the jihadists an advantage – they must merely continue to fight until the deadline. Instead, Mr. Bush must lay out the strategic objectives that will allow US troops to come home. For example, when Iraqi government forces in a province can undertake intelligence and combat missions on their own, the US will withdraw from that province. He must avoid quantitative measures of success as were used in Vietnam because guerrilla war is not a matter of numbers but of ideas. The temptation is great because, unlike a conventional war, there are no visible milestones (e.g., the Fall of Rome in WWII, or the retaking of Seoul during the Korean War). Body counts don’t really tell one anything.

Finally, he must explain that when American troops leave, the Iraqi government is not going to be able to call them back. This will put off the departure date, but by the same token, it ensures that the government in Iraq is prepared to fight and win – and if it loses a battle, that it continues to fight the war.

The Mesopotamian Adventure has been a colossal disaster in its execution, regardless of any noble sentiments about democracy and freedom in Iraq (ex post facto of course). It was obvious at the start of the war that there weren’t enough troops to occupy the country after it ended. Now, though, Mr. Bush has a chance to tell the world how he intends to get out of the mess, and in so doing undermine the jihadists’ raison d’etre -- getting Americans out of Iraq. It remains to be seen if the Iraqi people will fight for the government, but that is another speech for another man to give.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
Produced using Fedora Linux.

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