The President Owes It To Us

The Gallup Organization tells us, “Roughly half of Americans believe the United States can win the war in Iraq, but less than half believe it will. That could be an indictment of [President] Bush’s handling of the war; his approval ratings on the Iraq issue have been below 30 percent in recent months.”

The Gallup Organization tells us, “Roughly half of Americans believe the United States can win the war in Iraq, but less than half believe it will. That could be an indictment of [President] Bush’s handling of the war; his approval ratings on the Iraq issue have been below 30 percent in recent months.”

It might, in fact, be the other way around. Maybe the President’s approval would rise if the people believed we will win the war they think we can win. The doom-and-gloom set currently monopolizes the media and the Senate is publicly undermining the General it sent to Iraq with an 82-0 vote of confidence – thus undermining the troops he commands. Under that circumstance, Gallup’s finding that “most Americans support the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, but there is only limited support for an immediate withdrawal,” makes sense. People don’t want soldiers to die in a losing cause, but they are concerned about the long-term implications of a quick withdrawal.

President Bush has to take the blame for some of this.

Not only for the policies but much also more for failing to make his case. If the President wants public support, patience and time for Gen. Petraeus to succeed, he must share his thinking and provide an ideologically consistent political framework. He has one – he showed it in Cleveland last week. Cleveland? No offense to Cleveland, but he spoke to a small audience and left it to the media to show selected, politically-spun bits to the rest of us. The President should be buying national television time and making his speeches to all of us without the filter. As a public service, we provide the key points from Cleveland and you can let us know whether you heard any them on your evening news.

• Our country is at war, although not everyone agrees that this is the case.
• Our former policy – apparent calm, stability, and cheap energy – promoted instability by hiding the frustration and hopelessness of the people under authoritarian rule. Those people were fodder for Islamic extremists who believe in their ideology as strongly as we believe in ours.
• Our enemy knows a lot about America, including that we recoil from the violence on our TV screens. Some Americans see it and say the U.S. should withdraw and let traditional hatreds “burn themselves out.” But if we withdraw based on visceral reactions rather than conditions on the ground, the violence will get worse, not better.
• Can we win? We can and we must. A U.S. defeat would enhance Iran, al Qaeda and other radical forces, and endanger friendly countries such as Jordan and Kuwait.
• Democracy is an alternative in the ideological struggle. Forms of government matter and it is in our interest not to lose faith in certain of our fundamental values.
• The surge is to increase security in Iraq to allow the political process to continue.
• The surge has just begun, but some people in Washington already want to end it; they should wait until Gen. Petraeus makes his report in September, as they asked him to do.
• The Iraqi government has benchmarks to meet. There is an interim report now and a final report on their progress will be made in September as well.

It isn’t clear that even a series of speeches in prime time would convince the public to stay the course. But Gallup suggests that Americans are willing to be convinced and the President owes it to us.