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Bush Launches Iraq PR Offensive in US
President Bush spoke at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies at George Washington University on Monday, launching a new public relations offensive to restore the American public’s faith in his war in Iraq. The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll has his approval rating down at 36%. A headline yesterday read, “Bloody Baghdad: 86 Bodies in 30 Hours.” Yet, Mr. Bush vowed at GWU, “We will not lose our nerve.” This war was never about American nerve, but rather the administration’s wisdom.
Once again, Mr. Bush seems to have hung his presidency on the willingness of Iraqis to fight and die for their as-yet unformed elected government. This is what Ralph W. Emerson meant when he said, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” Mr. Bush’s own words were:
As more capable Iraqi police and soldiers come on line, they will assume responsibility for more territory with the goal of having the Iraqis control more territory than the coalition by the end of 2006. And as Iraqis take over more territory, this frees American and coalition forces to concentrate on training and on hunting down high-value targets like the terrorist Zarqawi and his associates.
Note, he did not say that Iraqis controlling more of their own territory would allow US forces to leave Iraq. However, he did actually lay out a target: most of Iraq should be under Iraqi control by year-end. Right now, Mr. Bush maintains that Iraqi’s have “primary responsibility” for 30,000 of the nation’s 169,000 square miles, up 20,000 since December 31, 2005. So, around 85,000 square miles is the target, meaning an increase of 55,000 square miles, almost 200% more, in just over nine months. As Tony Soprano would say, “That ain’t gonna happen.”
Just what control or “primary responsibility” means is open to debate; defining the term is the key to winning the debate. Mr. Bush claims Iraq has 130 battalions, of which 60 can take the lead in fighting whomever; this is up from 120 and 40 in his December PR offensive speeches. Last month, though, the Pentagon reported that the number of “Level 1” rated Iraqi battalions (that is, those capable of fighting without American involvement) fell from one in December to zero in February. The figure was three in September 2005. That is not progress.
In his speech, Mr. Bush read from a letter from the mother of American Hero Sergeant William S. Kinzer Jr., who died last year in Iraq. “Don’t let my son have given his all for an unfinished job,” Mr. Bush stated before continuing, “I make this promise to Debbie and all the families of the fallen heroes. We will not let your loved ones’ dying be in vain. We will finish what we started in Iraq. We will complete the mission.” Next month, the war in Iraq will have gone on longer than the Korean War with less to show for the nation’s efforts than a stalemate.
© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.
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