DEAN ESMAY says that Bush’s critics (especially those on the right) aren’t giving him enough credit:
As for offending people, alienating people, losing public support: I frankly am not sure that any of that has happened, or will happen.
A year ago, support for invading Iraq among Americans was varying from about 50% to about 70%. It’s now pretty consistently on the high end of that range. Despite the anti-war protests, the polling still shows that a majority are still basically on board with the President if we invade.
Further, Bush was able to strongarm the Congress into giving him the authority he wanted over six months ago. Which means the domestic debate is essentially over, no matter what the protesters do. Furthermore, there’s even evidence that the peace protests are helping President Bush domestically far more than they’re hurting him. And that the only thing that’s really hurting him is that people are sick of waiting for him to decide.
On the other hand, despite widespread anti-war sentiment in Germany, Schroeder is being punished regularly by voters, which tells me that many Germans may disagree with war but don’t feel all that strongly about it–and possibly value their relationship with America more than they value avoiding war. France is increasingly a laughingstock. With every report, Hans Blix says nice things but admits openly that the Iraqis are still not complying with the non-negotiable demands. More Americans than at any time in history view the U.N. with suspicion and wonder why we even bother with the organization.
Meanwhile, in the last year, literally dozens of nations have stepped forward to offer their support. In the last six months, that number has grown substantially. We have, inarguably, far more allies today than we did in March 2002. Most remarkably, Arab countries are spending most of their time bickering with each other, and doing their best to talk Saddam into leaving the country.
Hmm. That may be the answer to the question I asked below, about why Bush took this route.