Who Believes What He Believes?
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Thursday, July 12, 2007; 1:12 PM
At his press conference this morning, President Bush tried to redefine the debate about the war in Iraq.
"Sometimes the debate over Iraq is cast as a disagreement between those who want to keep our troops in Iraq and those who want to bring our troops home," he said. "And this is not the real debate. I don't know anyone who doesn't want to see the day when our brave service men and women can start coming home. . . .
"The real debate over Iraq is between those who think the fight is lost or not worth the cost and those who believe the fight can be won, and that, as difficult as the fight is, the costs of defeat would be far higher."
On a literal level, at least, Bush is wrong. The current debate in Congress is precisely about whether U.S. troops should start coming home soon or whether they should stay in Iraq until some ill-defined and potentially unattainable goals are met.
On a more philosophical level, however, Bush may be right. The debate over the war is also becoming a debate between those who believe in Bush and share his beliefs about the war -- and those who don't.
"People don't want our troops in harm's way if that which we are trying to achieve can't be accomplished," Bush said, quite correctly. "I feel the same way. I cannot look a mother and father of a troop in the eye and say, I'm sending your kid into combat but I don't think we can achieve the objective.
"I wouldn't do that to a parent or a husband or a wife of a soldier. I believe we can succeed, and I believe we are making security progress that will enable the political track to succeed as well."
Most Americans don't believe that anymore, however, and their beliefs are supported by a growing mountain of evidence. Even the White House's own progress report, released today, provides little cause for hope.
Bush's attempt to recast the debate is not new. The White House has long been trying to make it a battle between winners and losers, on the assumption that Americans don't like seeing themselves as losers. But the big loser here may well be the president.
Increasingly, the real debate is not between hawks and doves, or even between Democrats and Republicans. It's shaping up to be between realists and the dwindling number of people who believe that success in the war in Iraq is still possible.
The Press Conference
After a 12-minute introductory statement, Bush did what he normally does at press conferences: He ducked the tough questions, and instead launched into long rambling rehashes of familiar talking points.
Asked why Americans should trust his vision for Iraq, given all the mistakes he has made thus far, Bush essentially blamed his commanders -- but then said that Americans should trust him because he relies on his commanders.
Asked if he was sufficiently realistic in his appraisal of Iraq, he said "Yeah," then talked at length about the threat posed by al Qaeda.
He repeated his inaccurate and misleading assertion that "the same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq were the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th." (See for instance, this McClatchy story.)
And he generally argued that disagreeing with his policy is tantamount to undermining the troops and emboldening Al Qaeda.
More tomorrow, of course. |
