Blame The War Opponents, Act One
This morning, ace WaPo op-ed man David Ignatius argues that Bush needs to do a better job of convincing the American people that we are, contrary to war critics, doing well in Iraq.
Ignatius says that if Bush fails to succeed in snowing the people, we may be forced--despite impending victory-- to withdraw prematurely from Iraq in failure.
This is an opening salvo of the "blame the war opponents for our eventual loss in Iraq" program, discussed here earlier this week.
The polls suggest that Bush is losing the ability to communicate effectively about the issue that matters most to him. He has a better story on Iraq than many people seem to appreciate: Iraqi politicians are in fact coming together toward a government of national unity; Iraqi troops are improving their performance; substantial reductions in the number of U.S. troops are likely this year. But to many Americans, judging by the polls, Bush's assertions sound like a broken record. His optimism comes across as happy talk...
Ask senior military commanders what they think about Bush and they will tell you they love his toughness -- but wish the White House could communicate its Iraq strategy better.
Horse Hockey. If the military commanders could win the war, they already would have. All the domestic propaganda in the world cannot salvage the mission. Only prolong the inevitable.
Bush works hard to disguise it, but one senses the same inner conflict that afflicted Johnson as Vietnam began to go bad. In "The Best and the Brightest," David Halberstam described LBJ's torment: "He was a good enough politician to know what had gone wrong and what he was in for and what it meant to his dreams, but he could not turn back, he could not admit that he had made a mistake. He could not lose and thus he had to plunge forward." But, recalls Halberstam, "instead of leading, he was immobilized, surrounded, seeing critics everywhere."
True enough. Ignatius always tries to sound reasonable when pushing the agenda of the national security state.
Then he is back to it:
It's a dangerous situation. If Bush loses his ability to convince the country that his war aims make sense, America may be forced into a hasty withdrawal that will have devastating repercussions.
Here you have it, folks. Ignatius has been entrusted to start getting opinion, especially among the influential Washington lemmings, behind the new meme.
It has worked for 30 years against the Vietnam War protest movement.
Hence, the Halberstam quote.
Ignatius says that if Bush fails to succeed in snowing the people, we may be forced--despite impending victory-- to withdraw prematurely from Iraq in failure.
This is an opening salvo of the "blame the war opponents for our eventual loss in Iraq" program, discussed here earlier this week.
The polls suggest that Bush is losing the ability to communicate effectively about the issue that matters most to him. He has a better story on Iraq than many people seem to appreciate: Iraqi politicians are in fact coming together toward a government of national unity; Iraqi troops are improving their performance; substantial reductions in the number of U.S. troops are likely this year. But to many Americans, judging by the polls, Bush's assertions sound like a broken record. His optimism comes across as happy talk...
Ask senior military commanders what they think about Bush and they will tell you they love his toughness -- but wish the White House could communicate its Iraq strategy better.
Horse Hockey. If the military commanders could win the war, they already would have. All the domestic propaganda in the world cannot salvage the mission. Only prolong the inevitable.
Bush works hard to disguise it, but one senses the same inner conflict that afflicted Johnson as Vietnam began to go bad. In "The Best and the Brightest," David Halberstam described LBJ's torment: "He was a good enough politician to know what had gone wrong and what he was in for and what it meant to his dreams, but he could not turn back, he could not admit that he had made a mistake. He could not lose and thus he had to plunge forward." But, recalls Halberstam, "instead of leading, he was immobilized, surrounded, seeing critics everywhere."
True enough. Ignatius always tries to sound reasonable when pushing the agenda of the national security state.
Then he is back to it:
It's a dangerous situation. If Bush loses his ability to convince the country that his war aims make sense, America may be forced into a hasty withdrawal that will have devastating repercussions.
Here you have it, folks. Ignatius has been entrusted to start getting opinion, especially among the influential Washington lemmings, behind the new meme.
It has worked for 30 years against the Vietnam War protest movement.
Hence, the Halberstam quote.
posted by Effwit at 9:47 AM
4 Comments:
"The polls suggest that Bush is losing the ability to communicate effectively about the issue that matters most to him."
He just put Bush and "communicate effectively" in the same sentence. Think about that, if you will.
He has a better story on Iraq than many people seem to appreciate: Iraqi politicians are in fact coming together toward a government of national unity; Iraqi troops are improving their performance; substantial reductions in the number of U.S. troops are likely this year. But to many Americans, judging by the polls, Bush's assertions sound like a broken record. His optimism comes across as happy talk...
Yeah--I suppose that, if after three years, when you've been told by various people in this administration, "It's a cakewalk; we'll be done in three months.", or "They'll throw roses at our feet", or, "major combat operations in Iraq have ended; mission accomplished!, or "the insurgency is in its last throes", or "we're making progress" X 1000? Only to then have Bush turn around and set the thing up like it isn't his fault; stating that this war will end beyond his term? Yeah, I'd think that all those assertions would start to sound like crap after awhile, no?
"If Bush loses his ability to convince the country that his war aims make sense, America may be forced into a hasty withdrawal that will have devastating repercussions."
"...for the people making money off the damn thing", is what he didn't say.
vcthree:
He just put Bush and "communicate effectively" in the same sentence. Think about that, if you will.
Long-term alcohol abuse is a likely cause of his cognitive malfunction. That's about the most complimentary thing I can say about his shortcomings in communications skills.
I'm sure he is really pissed that the public isn't buying his line on the war anymore.
Why they ever did is still beyond me.
Bush's casting blame on everyone else--the military, the anti-war crowd,...whoever--is really slimy. He it the one bearing ultimate responsibility, no matter what advice he received. It was his decision to go to war the way he did.
Your point about the profit motive gets to the heart of the matter.
I think we just need to face facts: we've already failed. The only ones who can't see that are Bush and the Brownosers up in D.C. (Not that the "Old Yeller" Dems are providing much help, either.) Every point that the Administration sold us on as "The Reason(s)" we had to go to/stay in Iraq have proven to be logical fallacies of the highest order. And all Bush can sell us now is, as Dana Carvey put it, "Stay the Course, Thousand Points of Light...Stay the Course." Over and over. Lather, rinse; repeat. I don't care what all the sycophants say, because...well, they're never going to change their mind. To these sycophants, it's just a college football game--our team vs. the other team, and our team has the ball, so--NYAAH!
I'm just tired of everyone's act up on The Hill, and down on The Ellipse. It's why I write very little about politics on my own blog--it's nauseating. Thanks for your efforts, though.
vcthree:
As you were getting at, the people in Washington (the political people) would be willing to put up with all sorts of malfeasance just to keep their K St. and Hill jobs. The proof is in the lack of any kind of real opposition to the criminal policies that we have been treated to for the last five years. No one wants to speak up.
Also, the amount of BS that the public is willing to believe in order to sleep soundly is amazing.
Thanks for the high-five.
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