[This occasional newsletter is directed solely to President George W. Bush, carrying news and information of which we believe President George W. Bush really ought to be aware.]
Vol. 3
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The headline was meant to be an attention getter, but at the level where perception=reality we are concerned it could have some truth to it. We especially want to point out the danger in this take on Fallujah:
"'We won,' said one of the scarved militiamen, a former soldier who gave his name only as Abu Abdullah. 'We didn't want the Americans to enter the city, and we succeeded.
"As the US-endorsed militiamen drove through Fallujah in pickup trucks and congregated on deserted street corners, residents flashed V-for-victory signs and mosques broadcast celebratory messages proclaiming a 'victory over the Americans,' The Washington Post reported."
Needless to say, we expect the Post to highlight the half-empty glass whenever possible. But we have to recognize a similar message in this view from middle America:
"Only history can say for sure, but a good case can also be made it means the time has come for Mr. Bush to move forward decisively. What may be bugging a fair number of Americans is not that the war in Iraq isn't going as smoothly as the Bush team expected. War rarely does. It's that for more than a month now Mr. Bush has appeared to be on the brink of repeating his father's mistake: not finishing the job...
"Reports from the front strongly suggest Iraqis are unhappy with the American occupation too. But what they seem to be unhappiest about is the failure to establish law and order. They may want America gone. But like Americans, they also want to know Mr. Bush won't settle for quagmire, much less defeat. Otherwise they may decide to start throwing in their lot with the 'winning' side."
Everyone should understand that the president does not have the authority of a king, and that he works with the advice provided by scores of advisors and legions of bureaucrats. So standing down before the insurgents is a tactic undoubtedly with its positives. But we also believe President George W. Bush should be aware that, even without being privy to all this advice, the American people can get a sense of how things should go. They can observe that our troops are taking a piecemeal approach to a problem that may be better dealt with forcefully. The American people can surmise that our military forces are being held back, possibly to their detriment.
"Lt. Col. Pat White said American troops would 'maintain our defense posture' until someone "much, much higher than me makes a different decision.'"
We wonder whether President George W. Bush has fully examined the advice he is receiving - and whether he recognizes that, politically, there is more downside to playing it safe to put a good public face on the situation, than to just doing the right thing. This is by Wes Pruden:
"No matter what he does, George W. will never win over serious Manhattan dinner parties. The Beautiful People, all paunch and mostly wrinkles now, have too much invested in hating the president. The larger risk is that by trying to please his critics, by demonstrating how nice and nuanced he is, the president could lose the suburban waiters and the millions who think like suburban waiters, who worry that this Kerry guy 'is all over the place'...
"Marine commanders know how to clean out Fallujah. If the president wants to see his poll numbers soar, he should turn the leathernecks loose. This would scuttle the Saddamite insurrection, save American and Iraqi lives, assure his re-election and ruin a lot of 'serious Manhattan dinner parties.'"
We read every day about the fact that the guys coming to fight our troops are coming in from Syria. One does not have to be a news-hound to be aware of this. In what sense is it reasonable to view this as a diplomatic issue? Maybe U.S. forces are spread too thin; even if this is the case then some more meaningful rhetoric needs to come from the White House than that the Syrians have been sternly warned.
From a practical standpoint, a proactive approach is to destabilize the enemy to keep him from bothering you, because El Salvador, not Vietnam, should be the model for Iraq:
"The only difference between El Salvador of the 1980s and the Iraq of today is the American military presence, but this makes taking action more imperative, not less. Unlike El Salvador, the anti-democratic thugs in Iraq are killing Americans. Every day we delay in acting against Damascus and Tehran, we are further putting the lives of our men and women in uniform in danger. This cannot be tolerated and must not continue.
"The regimes in Syria and Iran are deathly afraid of a republican form of government in Iran, as are the Iraqi Baathists, the Khomeinists they support, and their mutual benefactors in Beijing. The reasons for supporting dissident movements against these tyrannies should be beyond dispute even without the need to protect American soldiers. The fact that these regimes give aid and comfort to those who kill our servicemen make acting against them a moral imperative."
The recent scandal with mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners is a problem - but while the offenders need to be punished like the idiots they are, we need to keep the problem in perspective. First, the prisoners wanted to kill - or may already have killed - U.S. soldiers. When they had the chance, remember what they did to American prisoners?.
Second, better to have photos of them stacked in a humiliating position, than sitting in a courtroom or back on the battlefield. War is hell, as noted by a self-described "die-hard fighter in the al-Mahdi Army", who said in this FoxNews interview that what the Americans did to him was worse than what he suffered under Saddam (link via Allah):
"'But that's better than the humiliation of being stripped naked,' he said. 'Shoot me here,' he added, pointing between his eyes, 'but don't do this to us.'"
On the sympathy meter, the abused prisoners may or may not be scoring well in Europe or the Arab world, but here at home we suspect you'll survive politically without going into any paroxysms of contrition. You can't say any of this, of course, but we present it in the interest of ensuring your resolve does not flag in the face of foreign criticism.
Finally, along the same lines, we encourage you to maintain a firm resolve in the face of the anti-war movement here at home. These critics can be shrill, cruel, outrageous and at the same time part of the "beautiful-people" establishment with whom so many of our political leaders are inclined to get buddy-buddy when the opportunity presents itself. On behalf of the American people, we suggest that principles should mean something. Those who give aid and comfort to the enemy should be no friends of ours.
Please note these reflections by Bui Tin, former colonel in the North Vietnamese army, on the anti-war movement:
"Q: Was the American antiwar movement important to Hanoi's victory?
"A: It was essential to our strategy. Support of the war from our rear was completely secure while the American rear was vulnerable. Every day our leadership would listen to world news over the radio at 9 a.m. to follow the growth of the American antiwar movement. Visits to Hanoi by people like Jane Fonda, and former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and ministers gave us confidence that we should hold on in the face of battlefield reverses. We were elated when Jane Fonda, wearing a red Vietnamese dress, said at a press conference that she was ashamed of American actions in the war and that she would struggle along with us."
And also, a Marine Lieutenant stationed in Ramadi sends this request:
"It seems that despite the tremendous and heroic efforts of the men and women serving here in Iraq to bring much needed peace and stability to this region, we are losing the war of perception with the media and American people. Our enemy has learned that the key to defeating the mighty American military is by swaying public opinion at home and abroad. We are a people that cherish the democratic system of government and therefore hold the will of the people in the highest regard. We love to criticize ourselves almost to an endless degree, because we care what others think. Our enemies see this as a weakness and are trying to exploit it...
"Whether you're in middle school, working at a 9-5 job, retired, or a stay-at-home mom you can make a huge difference! There is nothing more powerful than the truth. So, when you watch the news and see doomsday predictions and spiteful opinions on our efforts over here, you can refute them by knowing that we are doing a tremendous amount of good. Spread the word. No one is poised to make such an amazing contribution to the everyday lives of Iraqis and the rest of the Arab world than the American Armed Forces. By making this a place where liberty can finally grow, we are making the whole world safer. Your efforts at home are directly tied to our success. You are the soldiers at home fighting the war of perception."
President George W. Bush, you have many advantages in the coming election. Prime among them is the fact that on top of his almost daily missteps your opponent continues to be deservedly pilloried in public:
"Hundreds of former commanders and military colleagues of presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry are set to declare in a signed letter that he is 'unfit to be commander-in-chief.'"
But with all John Kerry has done to lose this election, we advise you not to take anything for granted. Besides, it's not just about winning the election: It's about doing the right thing.
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THIS CONCLUDES THIS ISSUE OF THE PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH REPORT
