Bush To Use Speeches to Bolster Support for Iraq War

By Jeralyn, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Wed Aug 30, 2006 at 07:47:01 PM EST
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The Wall St. Journal (free link) reports that Bush is planning a series of speeches intended to increase support for the war in Iraq.

President Bush will launch another major public-relations offensive to strengthen support for the Iraq war -- this time likely emphasizing the high stakes and changing nature of the battle more than the progress being made. The series of speeches begins tomorrow at the annual American Legion convention in Utah and will continue through the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and on into the middle of next month.

The new campaign is aimed at framing the Iraq debate over what the White House considers the vital stakes involved in the war and reinforcing public sentiment that favors sticking it out. The speeches will be aimed at rebutting mounting public calls -- from Democrats and even a few Republicans -- for setting some kind of timetable for at least a limited troop withdrawal.

Part of the strategy is to use the speeches to increase Republican chances of victory in November:

The speeches also could help Republican candidates in the fall congressional campaign, despite the flagging popularity of both Mr. Bush and the war. Advisers to the president believe -- and polls reflect -- that while most people say they are unhappy about the way the war is going, they still oppose the immediate withdrawal that high-profile Democrats increasingly favor.

Since when is "immediate" the operative word? I thought the Democrats and most Americans support a timetable for withdrawal at the earliest opportunity -- that is not the same thing as "immediate withdrawal." Bush is trying to make it sound like Democrats would stage a mass and total exit from Iraq tomorrow. While I would be in favor of that, even I recognize that's not in the cards.

Bush should spend less time planning how to sell this misbegotten war and more time on how to exit from it. He should also refrain from pushing the fear button:

....Mr. Bush recently has increasingly emphasized that if the U.S. withdraws from Iraq, the "enemy will follow us home," as he said at a fund-raiser for former football star Lynn Swann's Pennsylvania gubernatorial campaign.

Does he think Americans don't get by now that Iraq and al Qaeda are separate entities and that Iraq is not responsible for 9/11?