A rchive Date
[ 08-04-2004 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]
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[http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/2489651
Staying the course? (Yeah, till June 30)
By CRAGG HINES
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
April 7, 2004, 1:37AM
IF the Shiites are revolting and the Sunnis are revolting and the Kurds tolerate us only as a buffer against fellow Sunnis and the Shiites, what does that say about President Bush's insistence that power, no matter what, will be handed over to an as yet undefined interim Iraqi government on June 30? Not much for Bush, except that he's determined the occupation of Iraq will not be allowed to stand in the way of his re-election.
This is regardless of the absence of an adequate U.S. plan to police, much less to pacify and certainly not to democratize, Iraq before June 30, and there is not much of a plan for the United States to do much of anything afterward, except to provide cannon fodder.
This is not lost on Americans. A post-Fallujah poll by the Pew Center for the People and the Press found that 57 percent of those questioned believe Bush does not have a clear Iraq policy, with 32 percent saying that he did.
When the going gets tough, Bush, of all people, tosses a key part of the Iraq equation to the United Nations, as in his statement Monday: "The United Nations is over there now. The United Nations is there now to work on ... to whom we transfer sovereignty." (Translation: Give the ball to Kofi, or anyone else, for that matter; it's too hot for me to handle now, much less in a couple of months. To whom will we transfer power? Just fill in the blank. Tell them to show up for work on July 1 unless they get taken out by a sniper on the way to the office. Deepest condolences. Big wreath and card follow.)
"But, no," Bush insisted, "the date remains firm." "Firm" is one of those market-tested words that Republicans love because they think voters love them. It's like "steadfast," "unshakable" and "determined." But when did the White House last test such words? Although a majority of American adults, which admittedly is not the same thing as likely voters, still agree that the war in Iraq was the right course, they now disapprove of the job Bush is doing overall, according to the new Pew poll (790 adults, Thursday-Sunday). Forty-seven percent disapprove and 43 percent approve, a turnaround from the view found in a Pew poll conducted March 22-28 (1,501 adults).
Bush's "firm" resolve regarding June 30 came as reports emerged that U.S. commanders in Iraq are drawing up contingency plans to increase the U.S. military presence there. There are 135,000 U.S. military personnel in Iraq, a figure that's to be drawn down to no more than 115,000 during the summer. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld gave the usual answer when asked Tuesday about the possibility of increasing U.S. forces in Iraq: Commanders on the ground "will decide what they need, and they will get what they need." Yeah, sure.
Rumsfeld spoke about the same time that L. Paul Bremer, leader of the U.S. occupation government in Iraq, rushed onto the major television morning shows to contend that despite the raging battles of the last week: "There is no question we have control of the country." That's an interesting evaluation, given news reports that militiamen loyal to the Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr were in charge of municipal facilities in several Iraqi cities, including Basra, the country's second most populous.
Very reassuring.
As reassuring as the wall-to-wall appearances of administration earth mother Karen Hughes to promote her new book, Ten Minutes from Normal. Hughes' removal to Austin has done nothing to lessen her penchant for control freakery. Her major contribution in the years with her latest mentor-muse has been to foster Bush's adoption of a similar frame of mind. It seems to blame for his refusal to concede the obvious: Before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he was not sufficiently focused on nonstate terrorism.
A telling moment came Sunday on NBC News' Meet the Press when host Tim Russert asked Hughes: "What do you think (Bush's) biggest mistake has been and how has he learned from it?" It was a good question, if only as a veracity meter or reality check on Hughes. But she long ago drank the Kool-Aid, earning well the $15,000 a month she has been paid as a consultant by the Republican National Committee since leaving the White House and that she will be paid, presumably by the Bush-Cheney committee, when she returns in August to hold Bush's hand through the remainder of the campaign.
"I don't know that I think in those terms," Hughes said. Of course not, she thinks in terms of applying ever more gilt to the halo she has been painting for about a decade as part of her hagiographic work for Bush.
And June 30 couldn't possibly be a mistake either, could it, no matter what happens?
Hines is a Houston Chronicle columnist based in Washington, D.C. (cragg.hines@chron.com)
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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