[Mb-civic] Rallying the Troops and Avoiding Reality - Colbert King - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Rallying the Troops and Avoiding Reality

By Colbert I. King
Saturday, August 27, 2005; Page A17

There is something almost surreal in the juxtaposition of President 
Bush's statements on Iraq and news reporting on the war. The two are 
simply irreconcilable.

Bush's upbeat take collides with recent news reports about events in 
Iraq as well as with the judgments of senior officials within his 
administration. If the media have got it wrong, then we deserve to get 
hammered. If, however, it turns out that Bush is not being straight with 
courageous U.S. service members and their families, then it will be the 
Bush presidency and his legacy that will pay dearly.

At the moment he's hitting it off in visits to military posts, where he 
dons his commander-in-chief hat. One Bush line always draws applause: 
"We will stay on the offensive. Whatever it takes, we will seek and find 
and destroy the terrorists, so that we do not have to face them in our 
own country." It went over well last year with a gathering of applauding 
Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne, Green Berets of the 5th Special 
Forces Group and the Night Stalkers, at Fort Campbell, Ky.

In June the president went to Fort Bragg, N.C., and in a televised 
address described Iraq as the latest battlefield in the war on 
terrorism, saying: "America's mission in Iraq is to defeat an enemy and 
give strength to a friend . . . . We will stay in the fight until the 
fight is won."

And to cheering military families at Nampa, Idaho, this week, Bush said: 
"Terrorists will emerge from Iraq one of two ways: emboldened or 
defeated . . . . for the sake of our children and our grandchildren, the 
terrorists will be defeated."

Bush's portrayal of America as a nation besieged by a cruel enemy that 
has made Iraq the battleground is one of the reasons America's military 
families willingly send sons and daughters off to war. Yes, it's hard 
duty, but what goal is worthier than defending America? Stated that way, 
there's no argument, at least where I'm concerned. That was one of the 
reasons that I, along with many in my generation, suited up during the 
Cold War.

The country should be grateful to all who wear the uniform of the United 
States and to the families that are sacrificing to achieve Bush's stated 
mission to fight the terrorists over there, and "stay until the fight is 
won."

But what if something else is in the works? Suppose staying on the 
offense "until the enemy is broken," an applause line, is just that -- 
an applause line?<>

<>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/26/AR2005082601479.html?nav=hcmodule 

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