|
|
 |
Pre-election Vietnam
// Losses in Iraq are Depriving Republicans of Their Chances at Victory
On Wednesday US President George Bush admitted for the first time that the current situation in Iraq bears a strong resemblance to the circumstances in which the Americans found themselves in Vietnam in 1968. With only two weeks remaining before the American congressional elections, the escalation of the situation in Iraq has already led all the president's men to call for the withdrawal of American troops. In addition, opinion polls show that the majority of Americans, shocked by the state of affairs in Iraq, believe that the Republican administration is mishandling the situation and intend to vote for the Democrats.
Defeat in Iraq
The question of whether George Bush could see a resemblance between the war in Iraq and the war that the United States fought in Vietnam almost forty years ago was asked of the president during an interview with ABC News correspondent George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday. In his question, Mr. Stephanopoulos (a former advisor to Bill Clinton) was referring to an assessment made recently by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman comparing the current situation in Iraq with events in Vietnam at the beginning of 1968, when the North Vietnamese army undertook a massive assault on American troop positions. And although the operation failed with massive casualties for the attackers, that moment was the turning point for the Americans. Antiwar sentiment in the United States grew sharply as a result, and then-President Lyndon Johnson was quickly obliged to withdraw his candidacy for a second term in office. Partially agreeing with Mr. Friedman's opinion, President Bush said, "it's possible that he's right. The level of violence in Iraq has recently grown significantly."
Mr. Bush hastened to note that it is incorrect to consider the growing number of American victims in Iraq to be proof that America's entire Iraq campaign is a failure. In the interview with ABC he declared that only the enemy measures victory or defeat by the number of casualties. The American president, it was explained, has an entirely different measure of success. "In my understanding, the difference between victory and defeat is defined by whether the Iraqis are able to defend themselves, whether the Iraqi government can make tough decisions that are necessary for the country's unity, and whether new hospitals are being opened and new schools built. Success or failure is measured by whether democracy is evolving in the very heart of the Near East," explained the Commander-in-Chief of the world's leading democracy.
Mr. Bush again reminded his audience that as long as clear signs of the victory of democracy in the Near East are not being observed, and as long as al-Qaeda remains active, it is not possible for American troops to leave Iraq. "[Al-Qaeda] believes that they will succeed in creating such chaos in the country that the Americans will simply get fed up with continuing the operation in Iraq, and that will force the government to withdraw the troops," said the president, exposing the terrorists' treacherous plan. The president stressed that the terrorists will not attain their goal.
Defeat at the Polls
Meanwhile, at the beginning of the week the American media aired reports that more and more people in the president's inner circle are making serious attempts to convince George Bush to give up his plan to build democracy in Iraq and to focus instead on a US exit strategy from the Near East. According to The Los Angeles Times, the White House has even invited a team of experts headed by former US Secretary of State James Baker to prepare recommendations for a change of US policy in Iraq. The suggestions are expected to be ready in a few months, although, according to information that has already been leaked, the experts will prepare two different plans of action. Both plans will involve a 180-degree reversal of the White House's current course of action: they will include finally withdrawing American troops and enticing Syria and Iran into keeping order in the country.
These reports were dogged by rumors that George Bush has supposedly given Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki two months to get the security situation in the country under his control, thus allowing America to withdraw its troops. However, Mr. Bush not only denied issuing such an ultimatum but also recently assured Mr. al-Maliki that American troops will stay in Iraq for as long as necessary. The president's signature on Tuesday of a military spending bill for 2007 was further confirmation that the Americans are in Iraq for the long haul. Out of a $532.8 billion defense budget (the largest in the world), around $70 billion is earmarked for continuing operations in Iraq.
Mr. Bush's stubborn refusal to turn the Iraq campaign around and his promises to the Iraqi authorities that he will not throw them to the wolves were widely criticized by Democratic Senator John Kerry, his opponent in the 2004 presidential elections. "I consider the absence of pressure to be a gigantic mistake, one that gives Iraqi politicians the opportunity to keep maintaining the status quo, which the majority of Americans see as a failure," declared Senator Kerry.
By all appearances, the majority of the American population is now prepared to take Mr. Kerry's side. This week The Wall Street Journal and NBC News conducted a poll that showed that 63% of Americans do not support America's actions in Iraq, 57% do not see any reason why the American army should stay in the country, and 40% see the situation in Iraq as a civil war that has nothing in common with the war on terror declared by the Republican administration.
In the run-up to the November congressional elections, which are only a little over two weeks away, such appraisals can mean only one thing: crushing defeat for the Republicans at the polls. According to the same polls, the position of George Bush and his team is much weaker than that of the Democrats on the eve of the 1994 elections, in which the Republicans swept both houses of Congress. Twelve years ago, 46% of respondents were in favor of the Republicans taking power, while 37% were for the reelection of the Democrats – a difference of 9%. Now the gap between the leading Democrats and their Republican opponents is a record 15%: 52% of Americans would prefer to see the Democrats gain control of Congress, while only 37% are for the Republicans. The main reason for the crisis of faith in the Republican Party was cited by the respondents – and not for the first time – as dissatisfaction with the military campaign in Iraq.
To the arguments of those against the continuation of the war must be added the most recent tally from the US military command of the number of American soldiers killed. On Wednesday, when George Bush was on television calling upon his compatriots to not measure defeat by the scale of human losses, the press reported that 71 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the beginning of October (the most recent casualty was killed yesterday): an average of three American soldiers killed every day. And October, which has been the bloodiest month in almost two years, is not over yet.
Last week in the US a report by an independent commission claimed that 655,000 civilians have been killed in Iraq since March 2003. The direct consequence of the report's publication was a further decline in the approval ratings of George Bush and his party. Statistics of the number of American soldiers killed in Iraq make an even stronger impression on Americans, and last weekend that number exceeded 3,000 soldiers.
Natalya Portyakova
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 20, 2006
|
|
|
