Bush's New Bubble
President Bush will meet today with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to discuss Congress's Iraq withdrawal legislation. Bush has spent the last several weeks driving home three misleading talking points justifying his intent to veto this bill over the wishes of the American public. To aid his efforts, Bush turned to some reliable crutches: in his latest Iraq speech on Monday, Bush repeatedly referenced September 11th and conjured dark visions of "death and destruction...here in America" if U.S. troops were to withdraw. The result: more people oppose Bush's position, and support a safe and responsible end to the war, than they did two months ago. As Washington Post columnist Dan Froomkin writes, "Bush's public campaign to push back against Congressional demands for withdrawal from Iraq is becoming highly reminiscent of his failed effort two years ago to win support for a radical overhaul of Social Security." The more the President speaks, the more isolated he becomes. Behold Bush's new bubble.
SOCIAL SECURITY PRIVATIZATION REDUX: The Washington Post reported this week that 58 percent of Americans trust Congress to do a better job of handling the Iraq war than they trust Bush. The Post pointed out that Bush had "taken advantage of the congressional spring recess to pound" war critics over their legislation. "Despite those efforts, Bush has actually lost a little ground" to Congress, which was trusted by 54 percent to set Iraq policy in February. The Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum noted, "This reminds me of the Social Security fiasco: every time Bush opened his mouth on the subject, polls moved in the opposite direction. Now the same thing is happening with Iraq." One day after Bush "used a backdrop of military families to declare: 'We should not legislate defeat in this vital war,'" Froomkin observed, "The meticulously choreographed settings, the carefully controlled audiences, the mind-numbing repetition of hoary talking points (with a particular emphasis on stoking fears) -- it's like deja vu. And so is the result: A public that is apparently more turned off to Bush's ideas the more he talks about them."
ESCALATION STILL NOT WORKING: New evidence continues to emerge that Bush's escalation policy is not working. Last month "marked the first time that the U.S. military suffered four straight months of 80 or more fatalities," McClatchy news reported. "April, with 58 service members killed through Monday, is on pace to be one of the deadliest months of the conflict for American forces." Iraqi civilian casualties across the country rose 10 percent from February to March. Iraq's political benchmarks are not being met; the latest Brookings Institution Iraq index, released two days ago, finds "no progress thus far" on reversing de-Baathification, scheduling provincial elections, drafting a plan for national reconciliation, amending the constitution, or reaching a political agreement on disbanding the militias. Last month saw the deadliest attack since the war began, a suicide truck bombing in Tal Afar that killed 152 people in a Shiite area. (Seventy people died in retaliatory attacks led by Shiite militias, including government security forces.) Last week's suicide bombing in the Iraqi parliament was the deadliest attack yet inside the Green Zone. A Red Cross report issued last week said the "disastrous" situation in Iraq is "getting worse, with mothers appealing for someone to pick up the bodies on the street so their children will be spared the horror of looking at them on their way to school." (Center for American Progress senior fellow Lawrence Korb returned this weekend from a 10-day visit to Baghdad and uncovered results that affirm that "the surge is not working." Read his full trip diary.)
REDEPLOYMENT DEBATE SENDS THE RIGHT MESSAGE TO IRAQIS: Defense Secretary Robert Gates yesterday affirmed a core element of war critics' strategy -- that the prospect of redeployment offers our best tool for motivating the Iraqi government. Speaking during a Middle East tour, Gates said the debate in Congress "has been helpful in demonstrating to the Iraqis that American patience is limited. The strong feelings expressed in the Congress about the timetable probably has had a positive impact...in terms of communicating to the Iraqis that this is not an open-ended commitment." Last year, Bush sent the exact opposite message to Americans. "Artificial timetable for withdrawal sends the wrong message to the Iraqis, they're seeing it's not worth it," Bush said. "Artificial timetable for withdrawal...sends the message to the enemy, we were right about America. That's what they said. Al Qaeda has said it's just a matter of time before America withdraws. They're weak, they're corrupt, they can't stand it, and they'll withdraw. And all that would do is confirm what the enemy thinks." Likewise, just last week, Vice President Cheney said setting a timeline "sends a message to our enemies that the calendar is their friend, that all they have to do is wait us out -- wait for the date certain, and then claim victory the day after." Such hypocrisy isn't confined to the Bush administration. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who regularly maligns the "date certain for surrender," admitted he used those very calls for redeployment to "motivate the Maliki government" during a dinner with Prime Minister Maliki recently.
SOCIAL SECURITY PRIVATIZATION REDUX: The Washington Post reported this week that 58 percent of Americans trust Congress to do a better job of handling the Iraq war than they trust Bush. The Post pointed out that Bush had "taken advantage of the congressional spring recess to pound" war critics over their legislation. "Despite those efforts, Bush has actually lost a little ground" to Congress, which was trusted by 54 percent to set Iraq policy in February. The Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum noted, "This reminds me of the Social Security fiasco: every time Bush opened his mouth on the subject, polls moved in the opposite direction. Now the same thing is happening with Iraq." One day after Bush "used a backdrop of military families to declare: 'We should not legislate defeat in this vital war,'" Froomkin observed, "The meticulously choreographed settings, the carefully controlled audiences, the mind-numbing repetition of hoary talking points (with a particular emphasis on stoking fears) -- it's like deja vu. And so is the result: A public that is apparently more turned off to Bush's ideas the more he talks about them."
ESCALATION STILL NOT WORKING: New evidence continues to emerge that Bush's escalation policy is not working. Last month "marked the first time that the U.S. military suffered four straight months of 80 or more fatalities," McClatchy news reported. "April, with 58 service members killed through Monday, is on pace to be one of the deadliest months of the conflict for American forces." Iraqi civilian casualties across the country rose 10 percent from February to March. Iraq's political benchmarks are not being met; the latest Brookings Institution Iraq index, released two days ago, finds "no progress thus far" on reversing de-Baathification, scheduling provincial elections, drafting a plan for national reconciliation, amending the constitution, or reaching a political agreement on disbanding the militias. Last month saw the deadliest attack since the war began, a suicide truck bombing in Tal Afar that killed 152 people in a Shiite area. (Seventy people died in retaliatory attacks led by Shiite militias, including government security forces.) Last week's suicide bombing in the Iraqi parliament was the deadliest attack yet inside the Green Zone. A Red Cross report issued last week said the "disastrous" situation in Iraq is "getting worse, with mothers appealing for someone to pick up the bodies on the street so their children will be spared the horror of looking at them on their way to school." (Center for American Progress senior fellow Lawrence Korb returned this weekend from a 10-day visit to Baghdad and uncovered results that affirm that "the surge is not working." Read his full trip diary.)
REDEPLOYMENT DEBATE SENDS THE RIGHT MESSAGE TO IRAQIS: Defense Secretary Robert Gates yesterday affirmed a core element of war critics' strategy -- that the prospect of redeployment offers our best tool for motivating the Iraqi government. Speaking during a Middle East tour, Gates said the debate in Congress "has been helpful in demonstrating to the Iraqis that American patience is limited. The strong feelings expressed in the Congress about the timetable probably has had a positive impact...in terms of communicating to the Iraqis that this is not an open-ended commitment." Last year, Bush sent the exact opposite message to Americans. "Artificial timetable for withdrawal sends the wrong message to the Iraqis, they're seeing it's not worth it," Bush said. "Artificial timetable for withdrawal...sends the message to the enemy, we were right about America. That's what they said. Al Qaeda has said it's just a matter of time before America withdraws. They're weak, they're corrupt, they can't stand it, and they'll withdraw. And all that would do is confirm what the enemy thinks." Likewise, just last week, Vice President Cheney said setting a timeline "sends a message to our enemies that the calendar is their friend, that all they have to do is wait us out -- wait for the date certain, and then claim victory the day after." Such hypocrisy isn't confined to the Bush administration. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who regularly maligns the "date certain for surrender," admitted he used those very calls for redeployment to "motivate the Maliki government" during a dinner with Prime Minister Maliki recently.
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