Just how wide is the present credibility gap ? Tim Grieve, Salon, presents the hard figures from the new CBS News Poll which reveals, for example, that 66% of Americans just don't believe Bush .
Allen L Roland
BUSH, IRAQ AND THE CREDIBILITY GAP
Tim Grieve / SALON
George W. Bush gave another one of those speeches Monday in which he explains the war in Iraq, but it's not so clear whether anyone is still listening.
According to a new CBS News poll, 66 percent of the public believes that the president describes conditions in Iraq as better than they really are.
Only 31 percent of the public approves of the way Bush is handling Iraq; an astounding 70 percent now say that the war hasn't been worth the cost.
If Americans did tune into Bush's speech Monday, they would have heard a laundry list of statements that conflict with the way they view the situation in
Iraq. Here's some of what the president said in his speech at George Washington University -- and what Americans told the CBS pollsters on the same points.
The president: "Our strategy to protect America is based on a clear premise: The security of our nation depends on the advance of liberty in other nations."
The public: When asked to say, in their own words, why Bush decided to invade Iraq, only 3 percent of those polled said it was to free Iraqis or spread democracy. Among the motivations mentioned more often: to protect the United States from terrorism or weapons of mass destruction (21 percent); to protect U.S. oil interests or otherwise make money (19 percent); to finish the job his father left undone in the first Gulf War (11 percent); to remove Saddam Hussein (9 percent); to follow the recommendations of others in his administration (8 percent); and to respond to the attacks of 9/11 (7 percent).
The president: The terrorists' "only hope is to try and provoke a civil war. So they attacked one of Shia Islam's holiest sites ... Immediately after the attack, I said that Iraq faced a moment of choosing -- and in the days that followed, the Iraqi people made their choice. They looked into the abyss and did not like what they saw."
The public: Seventy-one percent say that Iraq is already in the midst of a civil war; an additional 13 percent say that a civil war hasn't started yet but will soon.
The president: "We will not lose our nerve. We will help the Iraqi people succeed. Our goal in Iraq is victory ..."
The public: Only 15 percent say that the United States is "very likely" to succeed in Iraq. Thirty-six percent say success is "somewhat likely"; 47 percent say it is "not very likely" or "not likely at all" -- a dramatic, 12-point increase in the grim view over the past two months.
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