Bush’s hollow Iraq narrative

[acmavm]

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=17695
Bill Berkowitz
WorkingForChange
09.17.04

As US deaths mount, and a new intelligence report details a disastrous future, Team Bush sticks with its story -- and the American people keep buying it

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The occupation of Iraq is spiraling out of control, averaging more than three US deaths a day since the beginning of September. Yet despite the cascading bad news -- the US casualty count has jumped from 1,000 on the morning of September 7 to 1,029 at press time -- President Bush is steadfastly sticking to his narrative. The occupation of Iraq is muddled, confused, and messy and the prospects for the future are bleak. That isn’t spin from the DNC’s latest press release. It’s the current assessment of two highly-respected Republican Senators and the conclusion of a highly-classified report produced by the National Intelligence Council that, according to The New York Times, forecast “a dark assortment of prospects for Iraq.”
Election 2004, like most modern political campaigns, is a battle of narratives. Which candidate has a more compelling personal story? Which candidate has the “It” factor -- charisma and likeability? Which candidate’s policies resonate with a majority of the American people? Which candidate has character and integrity and will tell Americans the hard truths? Which candidate has a plan for extricating the US from the quagmire of Iraq?

For the Bush/Cheney campaign, the narrative has been boiled down to a very simple message that is powered by fear and the oft-hyped specter of another terrorist attack on the homeland and is repeated incessantly. It’s a two-headed hydra: Only the president is equipped to “finish the job” in Iraq, and only the president can secure the homeland against another terrorist attack.

In this narrative, the war in Iraq and the war against terrorism have become synonymous. Although it wasn’t that way before the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, due to a remarkable effort on the part of the Bush Administration, Iraq and terrorism are now intimately connected.

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This is the decision facing President Bush, and as we head into the homestretch of Election 2004 it is also the decision facing the American voter. Regardless of how many miscalculations it has made about Iraq, Team Bush will never admit it has been wrong. Never having to say you’re sorry has been its four year modus operandi. Ignoring current pessimistic assessments is now also seen as a virtue. Sen. Kerry’s job from here on is simple: Hammer away at this policy failure. He should call for a full disclosure of the National Intelligence Estimate.

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