Inauguration rhetoric

[ivolsky]

The media is reporting that the theme for Bush's forthcoming inauguration address will be 'freedom.' The context: Iraq. I have previously written of the disparity between American and Iraqi perception (as it pertains to the progress and invasion of Iraq). While Americans are more likely to accept Bush's rationale for war, a greater number of Iraqis see some of the positive progress on the ground. The former is of greater importance.

A recent pre-election poll questioned Iraqi opinion about the (then) upcoming American presidential elections. A survey of 2,000 Iraqis from around the country showed that 58% of Iraqis didn't care who won the U.S. presidential elections. Of those who did care, 22.5% preferred John Kerry and 16% preferred President Bush.

Only 5% of those polled in November of 2003, said they believed the United States invaded Iraq "to assist the Iraqi people," and only 1% believed it was to establish democracy there. According to a USA TODAY/CNN/GALLUP poll taken in April, 2004 , only 13% of Iraqis say the invasion of Iraq was morally justifiable.

Bush is confusing freedom with national interest and opportunity. The invasion of Iraq was an opportunity to advance American dominance and foreign investment. Many policy planners believe that this is in our nation's best interest. And on some level, they might be right. What's troubling is the disregard for the consequences of policy and the resistance to admit a wrong.

Bush truly believes that he is spreading freedom throughout the Middle East. Most Iraqis see it differently. Probably (by now) most Americans see this differently as well. But Americans buy the rhetoric. It's ironic that we have great expectations from those with whom we associate privately, but such low expectations from our leaders. Bush's speech is likely to be a hollow and simplistic assessment. Yet we as Americans eat it up. This year however, we must keep in mind that those on the receiving end of Bush's "freedom," often disagree with the very premise of the invasion, much less its purpose. (The premise of course changed, we were originally invading Iraq to rid Saddam of his weapons, and “freedom" was a distant second).

Let’s take a page out of Biden and ask this administration to tell Americans the whole truth. Sure, on some level Bush is spreading freedom. Iraqis are certainly freer today than they were under Saddam. But freedom was not our only goal, and it is not our only interest. What separates conservatives from liberals is the order of these goals in terms of priority. Conservatives (or at least those that supported George Bush) rank freedom first, most liberals site U.S. dominance and foreign business investment. It's a matter of worldview. But we should not take Bush's rhetorical embellishments at face value and expect a bit more from our leaders.

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