John, at Useful Fools suggests in a comment on my previous post on this topic that the recent "iron hammer" operation isn't as futile as it has been made out to be. Of course, the BBC will claim it's just a gesture... but I have zero faith in the objective reporting of the BBC after the Gilligan episode and others, and eventually some testimony from troops in Baghdad will show up on blogs to clear things up. Some of the Iraqi blogs have been complaining that the main problem with the allied effort there is that most of the information is provided by Al Jazeera, etc... and even most Sunni know those are extremely biased. What we, and the liberal Iraqis, lack are distribution channels to get our message out. We at least need some sort of effective "Radio Free Iraq" or even "Radio Free Arabia."
I think we need to also lose the Powell-coined "exit strategy" rhetoric. Why did anyone ever think that was clever? According to McCain there's only one exit strategy that counts: victory. And that isn't measured in superficial public relations media bites. If we demonstrate a willingness to leave before getting the job done there'll ultimately be even more lives lost, and the struggle will just drag on and on, as Armed Liberal on Winds of Change observes. I can see Bush becoming vulnerable from his right if he doesn't start demonstrating that he takes those words he uttered a few days ago, about a "democratic revolution," seriously. His support will erode so quickly he won't know what hit him.
On the other hand, perhaps these recent "skedaddle gestures" are just designed to temporarily mollify some of his detractors in Europe, during his visit there. They may simply be a way to give Blair some political cover. But this business about talking tough one day, and then changing direction the next, is the classic pre-9/11 Bush electoral behavior. Two or three shifts like that in a row and he may become very vulnerable, politically. I've always thought this was Bush's blind spot, and if I were running a campaign against him I'd deliberately try to get him to make a few quick changes in direction like this, over a period of a month or so... and then exploit the credibility hole that opens up. That's what I would have done were I running the McCain campaign a few years ago (as though anyone would have asked).
Posted by Demosophist at November 14, 2003 10:29 AM | TrackBack