Military, election campaigns blend as president looks to 2004

House Editorial

The American public routinely fails to see the drastic changes in policy that President George W. Bush’s administration performs without fear of public anger. The administration’s new plan to transfer sovereignty over to an Iraqi government by the summer of 2004 is a blatant example of the administration attempting to cut losses and run from a bad situation with no favorable end in sight — something Bush said only two weeks ago that this country would not do.

A day before gubernatorial and legislative elections were held in several states, Bush spoke in Birmingham, Ala., concerning the minor hostilities occurring in Iraq, as reported in the Nov. 4 issue of The Washington Post. The day before, an attack on a helicopter killed 16 soldiers.

Bush said America would "finish what we have begun" and that "America will never run. America will do what is necessary to make our country more secure." Though more attacks might come against U.S. soldiers, Bush said, "We will not be intimidated."

Now, two weeks later, the administration announces plans that will give an Iraqi interim government full sovereignty, according to yesterday’s issue of The Washington Post. Such a transfer of power could result in sizable troop reductions.

This decision would make sense if the situation in Iraq was improving daily. This is not the case. Since Bush’s declaration that America "will not be intimidated," 56 Americans have died in Iraq. That’s an average of four per day. That doesn’t seem to be a sign of improvement.

Yesterday’s edition of The Washington Post also reported that there are, on average, over 30 attacks against U.S. forces every day in Iraq. That doesn’t seem to be a sign of decreased hostilities.

By transferring sovereignty before a constitution is written, the U.S. occupation authority relinquishes the ability to guarantee a democratic system for Iraq — one of the reasons the United States went to war in the first place. The authority also loses the power to ensure basic freedoms of speech, religion, association and the press.

No one should assume that the announcement will cause the attacks against U.S. forces to cease. The mixture of Baathists and foreigners attacking U.S. troops are not fighting for Iraqi sovereignty.

The attackers target U.S. forces so that they can kill U.S. forces. The deaths of U.S. soldiers are both the means and the objective. The guerrilla attacks against U.S. troops are designed to drive the American forces out of Iraq.

Giving sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government will not stop the attacks. It may cause them to increase, since such a dramatic departure from previous statements by the administration signals a weakness and fear of increased casualties that only will embolden the guerrillas.

U.S. soldiers will be targets until they leave Iraq. After U.S. forces flee, the resistance movement then will turn its gun barrels on whatever interim government America props up.

That won’t matter to Americans or Bush, who desperately wants to have the troops home before the presidential election next year. It is sad that the entire Iraqi campaign appears planned and coordinated to coincide with domestic election cycles.

Two weeks ago, America was fighting in Iraq in order to establish democracy and freedom throughout the Middle East. Now the United States will fight just long enough to set up a new government — and get out before the American people elect a president.

Sadly, Bush seems more than willing to sacrifice the democratic future of the Iraqi people and the entire Middle East in exchange for four more years in the White House. Bush never has stopped running — for reelection. In a sense, running is all Bush knows how to do.