Demosophia

Turning Point for the President? (Updated)

I debated with myself about whether or not to post this for quite awhile. I have to confess that I'm at a complete loss as to why the President didn't respond to the al Qaqaa accusations yesterday. We're now entering the third day that this is the top news story, and clearly it has only grown and gained momentum because the candidate himself hasn't spoken. Captain Ed documents further evidence, contained ironically in a CBS report, that the explosive material was not at the site by the time the 3rd ID arrived and conducted a thorough search, which was, according to Glenn, a week before the 101st Airborne got there with embeds from NBC. Not only that, but the site may well have had chemical WMD that disappeared during the same period!

Now, I'm satisfied that this is, or would be, a nonstory but the candidate has to say so, because he's the target of the disinformaition. What's more, it would be better that Bush launched a counter-attack than merely answering the charges to dismiss them because they say something about WMD and about the character of his opponent. I just don't know why this President isn't at the top of his game at this point in the campaign, but it has been a pattern throughout his Presidency. He allows false charges to build momentum and become established in the minds of voters (and research says that they are established within 24 hours regardless of their merit) before he ever bothers to address them. He appears to believe he's above the fray. I have news for you George, you are the fray! And it's high time you got out of bed fighting your political opponents, who are illegitimately stealing a march! It's now a leadership issue.

Update 1: Apparently Glenn Reynolds has had some of the same thoughts:

Or if he [Kerry] doesn't [drop the al Qaqaa story], assuming it's true that the loss pre-dates the invasion, Bush ought to fight back and accuse Kerry of relying on bad information. Yet the fact that we aren't seeing Bush lash back with an accusation like this makes me suspect that the loss either did not pre-date the war or that it isn't clear whether it did or not. [Emphasis added.]

Update 2: Apparently Duelfer now holds that the only reason the high explosives at Qaqaa weren't destroyed in 1995 is that the UN gave them a pass. He also says that he believes the only reason the stuff existed was that it was part of Saddam's plans to restart a nuclear weapons program. If the President doesn't use this to counter-attack Kerry, he's either on drugs or he's lost his mind.

Update 3: As Rusty points out below, apparently the President has finally responded with a counter-attack. (Big sigh.)

Note: The MT server at mu.nu seems to be down at the moment, so I haven't yet cross-posted this message to Anticipatory Retaliation and The Jawa Report.

Posted by Demosophist at October 27, 2004 09:56 AM | TrackBack