Electorate Is Wising Up to the Iraq Blunder
So, you really can't fool all the people all the time. George W. came close, getting high marks for his "war against terrorism" and for being a "war president," even though in Iraq he ended up fighting the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Yet despite Bush's claim again last week that occupied Iraq is "the central front in the war on terror," the grim consequences of this colonial-style adventure have finally gotten through to an electorate that understandably invested a huge amount of trust in him after 9/11.
Though Bush's approval ratings have been falling steadily, they remained high in the areas of national security and Iraq. But no more. Polls now show that only a minority of Americans think that his handling of terrorism is good, or are "proud" of the U.S. role in Iraq.
It's about time. With the U.S. military bogged down in Iraq, and Afghanistan still a chaotic terrorist breeding ground overrun by warlords, we are being warned that Al Qaeda is as big a threat as ever, with recruitment booming and major attacks possibly planned for this summer.
All this despite Congress writing a blank check for $200 billion and additional expenditures -- mostly for the Iraq war. This inevitably means, as an internal White House budget memo leaked to the Washington Post last week acknowledges, an impending cut across the board in 2006 funding of domestic programs such as education and even for the Department of Homeland Security.
Meanwhile, the United States has moved away from its historical posture as an honest broker in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, with Bush abandoning a peace effort that goes back four administrations and even his own much-trumpeted "road map" to peace. Many supporters of Israel are critical of Bush's ill-conceived invasion of Iraq and his embrace of fellow preemptive warrior Ariel Sharon.
"I couldn't believe what I was hearing," said retired Marine Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, "that the road to [peace in] Jerusalem led through Baghdad, when just the opposite is true, the road to Baghdad led through Jerusalem." These remarks from the former commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East were part of his comprehensive analysis of why the Iraq invasion was doomed to failure from the beginning, based as it was on lies, false premises, poor planning and a disregard for the history of the region.
