The Empire 133

De International Herald Tribune:

'Bush plan is calculated gamble.
President bets on the public's patience,

WASHINGTON: By stepping up the U.S. military presence in Iraq, President George W. Bush is not only inviting an epic clash with the Democrats who run Congress. He is also ignoring the results of the November elections, rejecting the central thrust of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group and flouting the advice of some of his own generals, as well as Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al- Maliki of Iraq.
In so doing, Bush is taking a calculated gamble that, no matter how much hue and cry his new strategy may provoke, in the end the American people will give him more time to turn around the war in Iraq, and Congress will not have the political nerve to thwart him by cutting off money for it.
The plan, outlined by the president in stark, simple tones in a 20-minute speech from the White House library, is vintage George Bush — in the eyes of critics, bull-headed, even delusional about the prospects for success in Iraq. To his admirers, it is resolute and principled. It is the latest evidence that the president is convinced that he is right and that history will vindicate him, even if that vindication comes long after he is gone from the Oval Office.
Bush long ago bet his presidency on Iraq, and to the extent he can salvage the war he can also salvage the remaining two years of his administration. So he is taking a risk, challenging not only the Democratic leaders in Congress but also some members of his own party, who are openly skeptical that the new policy will work and who, unlike the president, will be running for re-election.
But there are no guarantees that Bush's reading of the country and the Congress will prove correct.
"It's more than a risk, it's a riverboat gamble," said Leon Panetta, a Democratic member of the Iraq Study Group and former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. "There's no question that under our system he's going to be able to deploy these troops without Congress being able to stop him, but he's going to face so many battles over these next few months, on funding for the war, on every decision he makes, that he's basically taking the nation into another nightmare of conflict over a war that no one sees any end to."
The White House orchestrated an elaborate rollout for the speech, including a presidential briefing for network news anchors before Bush addressed the nation.'

Lees verder: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/11/news/risk.php

Het is een kwestie van marketing, de verkoop van coca cola, cd's, oorlogen. Maar daar is wel de steun van de opiniemakers, dus de commerciele massamedia voor nodig. En dat lukt Bush steeds minder. Misschien moet hij een ander produkt gaan verkopen.