Bush's Speech

The President gave a very good speech tonight, but I do think he could gain a lot more from the wisdom in this post by Ian Wood:

It is not in our national self-interest to allow the Arab Muslim countries to remain the oppressed, impoverished dictatorships which they have been since their former European colonial masters drew their borders on a map. At the same time, neither is it in our interest to pretend that we are eagles of freedom, fighting to establish democracy out of grand altruism...this is simply not so. We must undertake risky ventures in that region, and not in other, equally poor or oppressed areas of the world, for the simple reason that that's where our enemies are. That's where they're bred, trained, and supported.

It is where the relief of oppression intersects with our own interests that we act, and serving those interests does not invalidate the relief, or render continued oppression preferable to action.

This is what the Bush administration knows, but because of the uncertainty/vulnerability equation, they are compelled to publicly ignore the glaring intelligence failures. The Vulcan mindset of Rumsfeld, Rice, Cheney and others regards outright admission of error as an unnecessary demonstration of uncertainty and, hence, a vulnerability. To those outside the White House bubble, this looks like simple prevarication. It causes doubt in Bush's supporters and reinforces the beliefs of his detractors.

This attitude is a mistake, and is, unfortunately, endemic among that peculiar breed of human known as the Politician. The Politician fears the judgement of the People, and cannot bring itself to be completely forthright. This is what crippled the Clinton presidency. The Politician tends to believe that leadership requires the appearance of inerrancy in all things, and consistently regards silence in the face of error as a sort of magical rite that will cause the People to be blinded to its existence.

But what the People need to hear is not inerrancy, but firm and reasonable commitment to the valid principles of national self-interest. Not absolutist declarations of perfect American righteousness, but sensible presentations of risks and rewards.

It's OK to be mistaken, Mr. President...but tell us why it was still worth it.

I hope this speech was the start of something more; the beginning of a deliberate campaign to constantly remind people why we are fighting in Iraq. I know why we are there, however Bush needs to communicate, and lead, more directly. Roosevelt's fireside chats did wonders for a reason, not in terms of providing much that people did not know, but they were reminders that the guy in charge had his hands around the issue. Call it psy-ops, or hand-holding, whatever. It needs to be done.

BTW, make sure to read Ian's post all the way through. It is still one of the best posts I have read on the why's and how's of going into Iraq.