It's like Chinese water torture ~ listening to George W Bush cheerlead an increasingly obvious failed Iraq policy that the vast majority of the American public,including myself,have no belief in.
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.
Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on Conscious talk radio www.conscioustalk.net
A report out of Iraq today notes that American forces dropped onto the roof of a home in the middle of the night, supposedly seeking an AlQaeda connection within.
What they found were two men, four women and five children, one an infant. All eleven were bound, gagged and shot in the head, including the infant. The bodies were then dragged into one room and the house was blown up..............
The bodies were found and taken to the local hospital, autopsied and photographed. Those who have seen those photos are sickened and outraged.
Again, this was an American operation, performed by American troops, perhaps as a training excercise for the increasingly violent Iraqi police and militia. A White House spokesperson noted only that the President was "aware" of the operation.
The same report noted also that air sorties and bombings have been conducted by American troops for a while now. No mention before this in any of our wonderful newspapers or any other media for that matter.
Randi Rhodes, one tough lady by the way, had copies of the photos and could barely speak after viewing them, she later noted that they were so sickening as they plainly showed the baby with a gaping bullet wound to the head.
What sort of people are capable of such actions as these? What sort of a nation are we that we do not rise up and bodily throw that rat bastard out of the White House?
by
ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2388 comments)
on Thursday, March 16, 2006 at 8:17:13 PM
