The Daily Background
| Why does America want to invite new attacks on America?
by Arlen Parsa
A majority of Americans now want a deadline to withdraw from Iraq:
Fifty-six percent say U.S. forces should be withdrawn eventually even if civil order has not been restored in Iraq, reflecting a continued and gradual departure from the “you break it, you’ve bought it” sentiment, ABC said.
Fifty-three percent support setting a date for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq, up from 47 percent last summer and 39 percent in late 2005.
From a White House press release:
The President Explains Why Timetables For Withdrawal Are Bad Strategy. PRES. BUSH: “Setting an artificial deadline to withdraw would send a message across the world that America is a weak and an unreliable ally. Setting an artificial deadline to withdraw would send a signal to our enemies - that if they wait long enough, America will cut and run and abandon its friends. And setting an artificial deadline to withdraw would vindicate the terrorists’ tactics of beheadings and suicide bombings and mass murder - and invite new attacks on America.”
That’s quite a stark disconnect between the President and the public. The Washington Post/ABC poll cited earlier also pointed out the deep unpopularity of the President:
Bush hasn’t received majority approval in any ABC/Post poll in the last two years — specifically in 25 months, since Jan. 16, 2005.
Compared with ABC/Post polls since the Reagan presidency, and Gallup polls before them, that’s the longest run with less than majority approval for any president since Truman.
It’s worth noting not just the length and breadth but also the continued depth of Bush’s unpopularity. Barely two in 10 Americans (19 percent) strongly approve of his job performance, while 49 percent strongly disapprove.
