For Bush, Is It Too Late for Humility?

Can President Bush restore credibility while maintaining the same course? A flurry of speeches delivered over the past few weeks has included something new: the admission of error. But this op-ed article from de Volkskrant of The Netherlands asks the question: 'Is it too late for humility?'

By Jan Tromp

Translated By Meta Mertens

December 20, 2005

Original Article (Dutch)

The president has chosen a new tone - a new tactic - for the struggle in Iraq. Since the beginning of December, he has delivered no less than five speeches on the war. It's as though he wants to emphasize that he understands that the course of the war will determine his place in history

Although different opinion polls show different results, it doesn't look good for George W. Bush: a majority of Americans believe that he intentionally misled them. A majority believe that in retrospect, it was not a good idea go to war to bring down Saddam Hussein. A majority is not taken with George Bush as president in the first place.

According to Bush and his advisors, the remedy is not to admit that the war in and of itself has been a mistake. Almost three years later, the justification for the war is still vigorously debated in American politics, and the president is unwaveringly fanatical in defending the war: "If I had to decide today once more, I would do it again."

However, the admission of mistakes and unintended consequences, sometimes candidly and sometimes between the lines, is new. The tone of those five speeches over the past few weeks was sober, even somewhat worried, and definitely more realistic. It seems it is an attempt to restore credibility while maintaining the same course.

"The work in Iraq has been extraordinarily difficult, more difficult than we had expected." Especially in his fifth and, for the time being, his last speech last Sunday, Bush was almost humble. "I know that some of my decisions have led to terrible losses - none of those decisions were taken lightly. I know that this war is controversial."

Compare this admission with the display of victory which he announced on May 1st, 2003 from an aircraft carrier  immediately after the fall of Baghdad. Bush: "Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and midshipmen of the Abraham Lincoln, fellow citizens, the fight in Iraq has ended. In the battle for Iraq, the United States and our allies have triumphed. … You have shown the world your skills and power of the American troops."

Between that moment and today, over 2,000 Americans have died, however, the difference is striking.

This is remarkable, because admissions or even any intellectual doubt have never been a part of the president's repertoire. In his political career, he was always proud of his dependability, as if he could hold up to the facts. He made determination a central theme in his re-election campaign. "Even if you don't agree with me, you know where I stand." He said this a thousand times.

Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. "He tried to obtain nuclear weapons. We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemicals, among which mustard gas and nerve gas," the president said in October of 2002. He kept it up for a long time. When the evidence started to fade, the President obfuscated his justification for the war. I have always said that Saddam was a threat" he then said.

Now there is the candid admission: "We found a certain capacity to restart the production of weapons of mass destruction," he said Sunday night, "But we didn't find the weapons. Much intelligence appeared to be wrong."

Perhaps this departure from stubbornness will work. The opinion polls show a moderate improvement. But it is also conceivable that it is too late for humility.