Why Bush escaped an Iraq row

[emad]

Despite numerous White House allegations in the run up to the Iraq war, which turned out to be wrong, Bush has escaped the kind of row that Blair has landed himself in, in the UK, writes the BBC's Tom Carver:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3109538.stm

Admittedly, Bush's spin machine has not crumbled the way that Blair's has, and he has not lost as many key ministerial personnel during the last 12 months as Blair. However, the American public have not responded as strongly to the glaringly obvious lack of WMDs which have underpinned the entire raison d'etre of the war, nor the lack of evidence of nuclear weapons capability

Bush's own spin machine rapidly changed tack after the death of Dr Kelly and focused on domestic issues to regain electioneering momentum.

Maybe this is why Bush has backed off from a proposed state visit to the UK, knowing it would do his image and 2004 campaign no good: the UK electorate despises Bush and sees him as a sort of oil industry pimp, soliciting on behalf of Bush 1.

[Brucey]

1. And some other reasons:

The media here are much more Bush-owned, the people here are much more gullible, naive, war crazy, and desire any kind of revenge for 9/11, and the opposition party here has much less power and are much more timid in complaining (though that is starting to change, at last).

[onehandle]

3. And England is who we revolted against...

...spurring our creation. Now they are the bastion of freedom and free speech.

America has come full circle. We are the new Soviet Union under the GOP.

[TioDiego]

2. Poor old Bush.

Nobody understands him.

[Lithos]

5. Perhaps in the conservative portions of the US

But they seem to understand him quite well in the UK.

[tinnypriv]

7. That is why they went to the Azores

That summit was supposed to be in the UK, but the Blair government supposedly thought that although security would be a "problem", protesters would be a "major problem" ('30 Days', p44)

Have you noticed that Bush can't go within ten miles of a European crowd? He pulls more people in than Dean! ;-)

[MaineDem]

4. Now he's not going to the UK?

Damn, I wanted to see those bare arses. :evilgrin:

Seriously, I don't know why he's not being castigated over this. People are really easily led, aren't they? Sad.

[CWebster]

6. Bush can't go anywhere except maybe Poland

And all this with a totally unresponsive and irresponsible American press.

If the press was ethical, if there was more widespread courage and independence in American journalism, the Bush thugs would be walking the political gangplank.

[hang a left]

8. I read last night that he is going to

the Phillipines in October, supposed to be there I believe October 25, if I remember correctly. Also the area he is going to is not the safest spot in the country. I certainly have tin foil about that visit.

[davhill]

10. Thats allright

He has no idea where in the world any place is anyway.

[robbedvoter]

9. UK is still a democracy - we merely claim to export the product

Bushco is only responsible to Carlyle who selected him not to some irrelevant focus groups.

[diplomats]

11. What's hurting Bush isn't the WMD issue

but the chaos and violence in Iraq now. So he did "escape" the controversy that has embroiled Blair, to a certain extent, only to be caught up in another one that's probably worse. (Also, another reason for the difference is the British public never backed the war the way the U.S. public did, so Blair had no room for error.)