Shop assistants watch US President George W. Bush on TV in an electronic appliances store in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, January 24, 2007. In his State of the Union address from Washington, Bush refrained from any criticism of North Korea, saying simply that Washington was pursuing diplomacy with its partners to attain a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
Photo: AP
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A Speech about International Defeat
// US President Gives the "Speech of the Year"
On Tuesday US President George Bush gave his annual State of the Nation address, his seventh since taking office in 2001. This year was the first time the president has spoken before a Democrat-controlled Congress, and he received a noticeably lukewarm reception. Cementing his reputation as somewhat of a lame duck president, George Bush implored the legislature to give his Iraq policies a chance and refrained from his usual fist-shaking at Iran and North Korea. Many in the Congress, however, appeared unconvinced by his conciliatory overtures.
A Stranger in a Formerly Familiar Land
George Bush's address to both houses of Congress this year was similar to his previous speeches in form, but not in content. In the time that has passed since last January's speech, events have taken place in America that have fundamentally changed the political landscape in Washington. Most importantly, in last November's congressional elections the Democrats trounced the Republicans and took control of both houses of Congress for the first time in twelve years. His party's loss of its majorities on Capitol Hill coincided with another blow for George Bush: America's final disillusionment with his policies. Over the last year his approval rating dropped to 30%, the lowest rating in history for an American president.
These two circumstances set the tone for Mr. Bush's address, in which he was obliged to take a step back from his former image of the self-confident general ready to stick to his guns, even if that meant going it alone. This time, it was a different president who took the podium, one who hoped to find common ground with his opponents and to avoid making statements that would remind anyone of the more objectionable directions his policies have taken over the last several years. Observers in Washington called it "political theater."
Entering the congressional chambers to polite applause from the members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives as well as his entire cabinet, Mr. Bush greeted the assembled legislators with smiles and handshakes. At the podium, where he was flanked by Vice President Dick Cheney and the new Democratic speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Mr. Bush paused to congratulate Ms. Pelosi on becoming the first woman in the history of the United States to head the House of Representatives. He then asked his audience to pray for the quick recovery of Senator Tim Johnson and Congressman Charlie Norwood, who are both seriously ill.
That was one of the few moments when the room listened to the president with anything approaching approval. Reactions to his statements regarding the situation in Iraq, which made up a significant portion of his fifty-minute speech, were frosty. "Ladies and gentlemen: On this day, at this hour, it is still within our power to shape the outcome of this battle," he said with fervor as he warmed to the topic of Iraq. "Many in this chamber understand that America must not fail in Iraq, because you understand that the consequences of failure would be grievous and far reaching…whatever you voted for, you did not vote for failure, " said Mr. Bush.
With those words, for the first time in the entire Iraq campaign, President Bush disavowed his oft-repeated opinion that America is winning in Iraq. This time, the president did not only limit himself to saying that this is not true – he actually stooped to giving an explanation of why victory is not being achieved. "This is not the fight we entered in Iraq," admitted Mr. Bush, adding that the White House's plans have been foiled by exploding sectarian violence and that international terrorism is only pouring fuel on the fire.
However, Mr. Bush's proposals for a way out of the mess in Iraq were not particularly original. He called on Congress to support his plan, which he unveiled earlier in January, to send more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq. "Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq, and I ask you to give it a chance to work. And I ask you to support our troops in the field and those on their way," he said with a new note of pleading in his voice.
The reaction in the room testified to the fact that George Bush is still not managing to convince this Congress. Applause, for example, was much less forthcoming from his audience this year than in previous years: in 2001 he was interrupted by applause 89 times, in 2002 – 75 times, in 2003 – 76 times, in 2004 – 71 times, in 2005 and 2006 – 66 times each, and this year – only 63 times.
James Webb Versus George Bush
The right to officially answer George Bush during the joint session of the Congress was given to Democratic Senator James Webb, a former Secretary of the Navy under President Ronald Reagan. Senator Webb, who is considered a representative of the new wave of Democratic arrivals in Congress, stands in harsh opposition to President Bush's policies and makes no secret of his desire to start dismantling the president's legacy. He is particularly well-known because his son is currently serving as an infantry Marine in Iraq. Last year Mr. Webb caused a furor in Washington by refusing on principle to pose for the traditional photographs with the president before taking the oath of office as a senator. When Mr. Bush approached him and solicitously asked about his son, Mr. Webb snapped back, "that's a matter between myself and my boy."
"The President took us into this war recklessly," accused Mr. Webb, who referred to the entire American nation as a "hostage" of George Bush's policies. Listing some of the most important costs of the war in Iraq, the representative of the Democrats noted, "the war's costs to our nation have been staggering. Financially. The damage to our reputation around the world. The lost opportunities to defeat the forces of international terrorism. "
In Mr. Webb's opinion, Washington's Iraq strategy needs a "new direction." That new direction should lead to "an immediate shift toward strong regionally-based diplomacy" and to "a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq's cities…[and] that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq."
Mr. Webb's statement took on particular significance when, less than twelve hours after Mr. Bush's State of the Nation address, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee began work on a resolution expressing the lawmakers' stance on the president's plan to send more troops to Iraq. Senator Webb's sharp remarks demonstrated all too clearly that President Bush has no chance of finding common ground with this Congress.
An Address as a Crisis of Genre
Iraq may have had top billing in the president's speech, but it was not the only topic Mr. Bush touched upon in his address, which traditionally has both international and domestic sections. In a tribute to his pet topic, the struggle against international terrorism, the president listed as a success "the unmasking of terrorist cells in Southeast Asia," which, according to Mr. Bush, were preparing operatives to launch a terrorist attack in the United States. Clearly understanding that a reference to a success in Southeast Asia was not overly convincing, Mr. Bush ponderously reminded his audience that "we cannot know the full extent of the attacks that we and our allies have prevented."
Another important topic for Mr. Bush, the struggle for global democracy, was this time glossed over with a promise to "continue to speak out for the cause of freedom in places like Cuba, Belarus, and Burma." There were none of Mr. Bush's former offensive sallies, such as his notorious concept of the "axis of evil" and in his bellicose references to North Korea and Iran. This time, the president's remarks concerning Iran were cautious and carefully chosen, and there was nothing in them to hint at imminent military operations in the region.
With regard to domestic issues, the president's promises to develop public health and social welfare programs, as well as to achieve energy independence and to diversify energy sources, were little more than a repetition of his same old line on these topics. Mr. Bush's most recent address thus only confirms the opinion that his presidency has been plunged into a state of deep crisis since his last appearance on Capitol Hill in January 2006.
Sergey Strokan
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 25, 2007
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