It’s been more than two years since “mission accomplished” and more than a year since the installation of an interim Iraqi government. Nearly 1,750 U.S. troops have died since the war began, and according to one report, nearly that many Iraqis have been killed just in the two months since the new government was formed.
Vice President Dick Cheney says with a straight face that the Iraqi insurgency is in “the last throes” – only to be contradicted by events and by senior U.S. military officials. Polls show that public support for the war is waning, even if few Americans would leave the Iraqis to fend for themselves.
That was the context for President Bush’s prime-time speech Tuesday night from Fort Bragg, N.C. He missed a golden opportunity. Rather than looking forward and laying out a realistic blueprint for success in Iraq, the president insisted on taking us back in time with a tortured invocation of Sept. 11.
At least five times, Bush tied the war in Iraq to the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The tie-in is a tactical gimmick we had hoped he’d left on the campaign trail.
The president harks back to Sept. 11 because the attack provided ample justification for military response. But that was al-Qaeda and Afghanistan. Iraq itself had nothing to do with Sept. 11, even though the Bush administration insists on weaving the two together.
In his speech, Bush said Iraq is where terrorists are “making their stand.” He finally mentions Osama bin Laden in a speech, but only to tie him back to Iraq, noting the terrorist leader has called Iraq the “third world war.” Meanwhile, bin Laden is somewhere else, we presume, laying low as fellow travelers descend upon Iraq to challenge the U.S. occupation.
“This war reached our shores on September 11th, 2001,” Bush said. “The terrorists who attacked us – and the terrorists we face – murder in the name of a totalitarian ideology that hates freedom.
“Iraq is the latest battlefield in this war.”
That’s true without doubt, even if the United States wasn’t incidental to the dangerous development. Toppling Saddam Hussein created a vacuum for terrorists and gave them a mission. Their offensive has slowed and hampered Iraq’s recovery.
Bush has rightly dismissed the temptation to set a timetable for exiting Iraq. But he’ll need to be more forthcoming about the dangers of this war and the sacrifices that are required – and he’ll need to take additional steps to maintain the confidence of the American public and of Iraqis who live in harm’s way and hunger for the fruits of freedom and security.
