Is Saddam winning the political war?
By THOMAS WALKOM
Columnist
The Toronto Star
Mar. 25, 2003. 01:00 AM
torontostar.com
<<...The public relations nightmare faced by Bush is that this war might prove that Saddam was not lying when he said he no longer possessed such weapons.
Indeed, so low is U.S. credibility on this front that even if coalition troops produce evidence of chemical and biological weaponry, much of the world will assume it has been fabricated by the CIA.
Already, Saddam has won political victories. He stymied Britain and the U.S. at the United Nations through the simple strategy of (eventually) agreeing to successive Security Council demands.
Similarly, Iraqi compliance, and Bush's inability to come up with a plausible rationale for his war, has won sympathy among the peoples of neighbouring states.
Turkish public opinion prevented the U.S. from opening a second front in Iraq's north. Jordan's government is coming under increasing public criticism for its under-the-table co-operation with Bush.
Saddam's hope, presumably, is that the longer the war drags on, the more nervous Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will become about supporting the U.S., and that this, in turn, could derail the invasion.
The laws of probability suggest such hopes are misplaced. However, the longer it takes for America to achieve military victory, the more hollow that victory threatens to become.
Anti-Americanism is at a level not seen for 30 years. While, Bush and those around him may not care about this, they should. Armed conquest is the simple part...>> |
