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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (27740)	9/16/2003 12:54:41 AM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

White House: Americans must sacrifice for Iraq By BILL STRAUB Scripps Howard News Service September 15, 2003 WASHINGTON - Stung by the public's waning enthusiasm for the nation's undertaking in Iraq and its high cost to taxpayers, the Bush administration is looking for ways to reinvigorate support. Led by Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell, the White House is working vigorously to convince Americans that the state of affairs in Iraq is a necessary episode in the ongoing war on terrorism - a war forced upon the nation by the events of 9/11. The White House has stopped referring to the hostilities as a war in Iraq. Instead, Scott McClellan, the president's press secretary, and other top aides have taken to calling it the battle of Iraq - joining the fight for Afghanistan in the overall war on terrorism. "This war is not without sacrifice - no war ever is," Cheney said Friday at a fundraiser for Rep. Richard Burr of North Carolina, who intends to run for the Senate next year. "More than 400 Americans have already given their lives during the war on terror in combat. Surely there will be more casualties. "But remember, we lost some 3,000 Americans here at home on 9/11," Cheney said. "We'll be much more secure and much safer if we're aggressively going after the terrorists and after the nations and mechanisms that support them on their home ground than if we lay back and wait for them to strike us yet again at home." In Baghdad, where he is receiving a first-hand view of the situation, Powell told reporters on Sunday that the United States' presence is needed despite the high cost. "Everybody would like to accelerate this - everybody wants this to go fast," Powell said. "We don't want to stay here a day longer. It is expensive. Our young soldiers would like to get home to their families. So we are not hanging on for the sake of hanging on. We are hanging on because it's necessary to stay with this task until a new government has been created, a responsible government. "The worst thing that could happen is for us to push the process too quickly before the capacity for governance is there and the basis for legitimacy is there, and see it fail." The administration recently has encountered growing public disillusionment regarding its Iraq policies, although polls continue to show strong overall support for the initial decision to go to war. A poll by Princeton Survey Research Associates, conducted for Newsweek on Sept. 11 and 12, revealed that 51 percent of those questioned approve of the way the president is handling the situation in Iraq, down from 69 percent in May. Meanwhile, the number of people voicing disapproval has risen from 26 percent to 42 percent. Forty-eight percent of poll respondents feel the administration doesn't have a well thought out plan to establish security and rebuild Iraq. Most disturbing for the White House is the revelation that, according to the poll, the public opposes the administration's $87 billion request for Iraq and Afghanistan 51 percent to 42 percent. Bush personally made a plea for the $87 billion, appearing on nationwide television on Sept. 7. White House aides acknowledge that the president's speech was not successful and a concerted effort is under way to convince the American public about the wisdom of the request. knxv.com