The 'Agonizing Political Decline' of George W. Bush

With Katrina, 'Plamegate' the situation in Iraq and 'the rash of scandal' spreading, Bush's poll numbers have never been lower. He is even accused of having misled Congress and the nation about Saddam and his WMDs. According to this op-ed article from the Tunis Hebdo of Tunisia, 'the crook Nixon fell flat on his face for less than that.'

By M'Hamed Ben Youssef

Translated By Mike Goeden

November 21 - November 27 Issue

Tunis Hebdo - Original Article (French)    

Three years ago, Bush enjoyed an approval rating of 70% in pursuit of his unjust, crudely-conducted war against Iraq. Today, current polls show his popularity to have shrunk, like so much untanned leather, to a mere 34%! One of the lowest approval ratings of any president in the history of the United States.

This dramatic drop - which bodes ill for the White House's current occupant - is primarily due to the deteriorating situation in Iraq, where GIs have been caught in the quagmire of guerrilla warfare, suffering heavy losses to both personnel and material. Besides, each week brings with it further developments which only serve to further darken an already bleak media landscape.

Above all, there is the spreading rash of scandal, from the lack of judgment in dealing with Hurricane Katrina, to the use of banned weapons like white phosphorous against the inhabitants of Falluja, to the revelations of "Plamegate" which included the indictment of close aides to [Vice President] Dick Cheney. Senator John Kerry couldn't have handled him more roughly when he stated: "It would be difficult to name a member of government with less credibility regarding Iraq than the Vice President."

In addition, there are the thunderous "indiscretions" concerning the existence of 24 secret prisons scattered about the world, including Europe and the Arab countries, managed by the CIA (today's "globetrotting torturer"), and where heavy-handed interrogations have been carried out on some 3,000 suspected Islamic terrorists. The total number of kills attributed to these fiendish centers has already reached 108, in addition to the 150 kidnappings [extraordinary renditions] carried out in Third World countries. All crimes that have been insincerely condemned by decision makers of the countries hosting American security forces, either "voluntarily or against their wishes": Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Morocco, etc. Investigations have been launched in Italy and GermanyÖ

What's more, various defections - such as the announced withdrawal (full or partial) of certain expeditionary forces, including the Japanese contingent - only serve to further stress an already weakened coalition. All of this quarrelling has certainly not left the Senate indifferent, especially now that the Republicans' foreign policy is collapsing on more than one front - the recent [4^th] Summit of the Americas being a case in point.

Several Senators have completely changed positions. After having fervently supported the war in Iraq, they today loudly renounce their previous stands in the columns of such prestigious newspapers as The Washington Post by stating "I was wrong" and explaining that their earlier votes "rested on deeply erroneous, not to say manipulated, intelligence." These numerous reversals have raised the pressure on the hawks close to Bush, who face a particularly rough ride ahead.

Already, the Senate has begun to demand periodic progress reports from the president on the war in Iraq: "Every three months, until all American combat units have left Iraq, the president will deliver to Congress a public report on American policy and operations in Iraq." In other words, the Senate now demands that Bush deliver detailed accounts on the war in the Middle East. For the first time, and for the same impetus, Republicans and Democrats have declared themselves massively in favor of a resolution specifying that "2006 must mark an important transition towards full Iraqi sovereignty Ö creating the necessary conditions for a progressive withdrawal of American forces from Iraq."

Clearly, a way must be found to get the marines out as soon as possible. The Senate has even gone so far as to call for an explicit ban on the torture of prisoners by the military or the CIA. This is a genuine vote of defiance directed against Bush and his destructive political agenda, meant to limit even further his freedom of maneuver.

These days, the White House is facing accusations of all sorts and emanating from all sides, even from within its own party. The president and his "eminence grise," Dick Cheney, are accused of having "manipulated the available intelligence on Saddam Hussein's WMDs." The Democrats have even accused the White House of having "deliberately misled Congress and the nation."

Looking back at history, one is reminded that the crook Nixon fell flat on his face for less than that. Can we expect Bush to someday suffer the same fate? For having invaded a weaker power, for having instigated a bloody civil war between Shiites and Sunnis with terrifying consequences for a country many thousands of years old, Bush and his supporters risk an agonizing political decline both nationally and internationally.