An Insufficient Explanation
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Wednesday, October 25, 2006; 12:28 PM
At a surprise press conference this morning, President Bush acknowledged the nation's grave concerns about the war in Iraq.
"I know many Americans are not satisfied with the situation in Iraq," Bush said, 13 days before a mid-term election that will in large part be a referendum on the war. "I'm not satisfied either."
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"I think I owe an explanation to the American people," he said.
But Bush didn't have much new to say today, other than endorsing yesterday's already largely debunked announcement in Baghdad of a "new plan" that sounds very much like the old plan.
And after an hour of familiar sound bites, the public would be forgiven for feeling it still hasn't gotten that explanation he promised.
Among the things that remain unexplained:
* Why does Bush believe that staying in Iraq will make things better, when the evidence suggests that it keeps making things worse?
* Why does he believe that progress is being made, when the evidence suggests that Iraq is sliding deeper and deeper into civil war?
* Why does he remain confident in Iraq's central government, when the evidence suggests that the center is not holding?
* Why hasn't anyone in his administration been held accountable for all the things that have gone wrong?
The Washington Post's Peter Baker asked that last question, and after initially responding with a strong endorsement of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Bush had this to say:
"The ultimate accountability, Peter, rests with me. That's the ultimate -- you're asking about accountability -- that's -- that's -- it rests right here. It's what the 2004 campaign was about. You know, people want to -- if people are unhappy about it, look right to the president."
NBC's David Gregory posed this question: "Mr. President, for several years you have been saying that America will 'stay the course' in Iraq. You were committed to the policy. And now you say that no, you're not saying 'stay the course,' that you're adapting to win, that you're showing flexibility. And as you mention, out of Baghdad we're now hearing about benchmarks and timetables from the Iraqi government, as relayed by American officials, to stop the sectarian violence.
"In the past, Democrats and other critics of the war who talked about benchmarks and timetables were labeled as 'defeatists, ' 'Defeat- o-crats,' or people who wanted to 'cut and run.'
"So why shouldn't the American people conclude that this is nothing from you other than semantic, rhetorical games and all politics two weeks before an election?"
Bush replied by distinguishing between mutually agreed-upon benchmarks and a fixed timetable for withdrawal.
But Bush has previously opposed even benchmarks. And when asked how he planned to measure success toward the benchmarks -- and what he would do if the benchmarks weren't met -- Bush ducked the question.
Bush also notably would not renounce his ambitions for permanent military bases in Iraq, a source of tremendous ire with the Iraqi public.
The Post's Baker gracefully thanked Bush for taking questions today -- even though reporters were given less than an hour's notice to show up at the White House.
Bush responded with obvious sarcasm: "I can't tell you how joyful it is."
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100879.html
