John Mason
Paris
May 31st, 2004

The other weekend I found myself on Nelson’s column in Trafalgar Square preparing to address a Stop The War Rally and do my bit as an unofficial advance man for George Bush’s next European tour. Standing in the spot where I had seen so many others stand, I was honoured by the invitation from our British comrades but had to ask myself : “How many more rallies like this one ? How many more times would Americans like me make this appeal for your help to halt some criminal folly of our government ?” The sense of futility and shame that American progressives feel is sometimes crushing. It comes from being part of an opposition that is often very “righteous” but at the same time remains terribly isolated and ineffective. “But not today,” I told myself, “Not this time...”

For unlike that of the White-House PR agents now fanning out across Europe, my message from America simply is that the people’s judgement is in on the merits of our war in Iraq. And 55 % of us believe that the US is losing control of the situation. According to the latest polls by Carville and Greenberg, an equal number agree that the war was not worth the 800 soldiers’ lives lost or the 200 Billions of our tax moneys spent. Only 42 % of us want the county to continue in its “current direction,” and George Bush’s approval rating has fallen into the low fortieth percentile. Bush’s odds of winning in November now look rather long, and sporting men would be well advised to bet on the margin of his defeat rather than its likelihood. According to the last Zogby poll from the swing states, Bush could lose by a landslide.

George’s advisors know that he’s in deep trouble, which may explain why they’re letting him take a foreign road trip in the hope of changing the subject back home. It’s a risky proposition - taking George out of the White House Bubble where he’s been hiding and allowing him some contact with the world outside. Who knows what he might be told ? But by this weekend his presidential progress will wend its way from Paris to the beaches of Normandy. There our President will seek to enlist our honoured dead in the service of his crusade in the Middle East and use our respect for the last great assembly of the surviving veterans of the D-Day landings to shield himself from popular criticism. I must admit that legitimating the occupation of Iraq by identifying it with the liberation of Europe seems a risky gambit. But it’s meant to demonstrate to the American people that - war crimes and torture charges not withstanding - Bush can still go abroad and be accepted as our representative. In that sense his visit presents a trap for opponents of the Iraq War. Protests around his visit will be shown back home as further evidence of Froggy ingratitude for past sacrifice, and give The Sun and The New York Post a fresh opportunity for more Euro bashing fun. Bush’s road trip then, could serve to stir up “Red America” patriotism and provoke a “rally ‘round the flag” response in the swing states.

But after having taken a big hit of the “power of pride” peddled by Bush, many Americans are coming down hard from our national high. The daily Iraq slide-show is aberrant and disorienting - what with Private Lynndie England with her captive Arab on a leash being followed by a jump-cut to a triumphant Baathist General striding into Fallujah to take over from our Marines just before a hapless Nick Berg recounts his Jewish ancestry into the camera prior to his beheading. We don’t feel very good about the Bush administration or ourselves for having let all this happen. John Kerry senses as much, which is why his campaign proposes to “Let America be America again.” This speaks to those Democrats and Republicans who feel that must take our country back if we ever are to look ourselves in the mirror again.

The US Army moreover, now senses a defeat in the making in Iraq that is both moral and strategic. Since active duty personnel can’t speak for themselves, there’s been a parade of retired generals telling us that we’re “looking into the abyss,” or as Admiral Zinni put it, “heading over Niagara Falls.” There is not much honour in fighting in a professional army that doesn’t honour the Geneva Convention. And there is not much point in killing people for a noble lie - especially when it turns out that Achmed Chalabi was an Iranian double agent who cooked his intelligence at Teheran’s behest. Officers on active duty feel that the Administration wants to “break the army “ and have said so in the press. So we’re facing a crisis in “civil/ military relations” that is acute as anything we knew during the Vietnam War era. And this is yet another reason to believe that George Bush’s days in power are numbered.

Du même auteur (en français)

Discours à la Bastille à l’occasion de la visite de George Bush à Paris
lundi 7 juin 2004
L’Amérique progressiste contre l’exploitation de la commémoration du Débarquement par l’équipe de Bush.
http://www.temps-reels.net/article.php3 ?id_article=1585

"Chat" sur le site du Monde sur Bush et l’Irak :
L’intégralité du débat avec John Mason, directeur du département de sciences politiques à l’université William-Paterson, à Wayne (New Jersey) aux Etats-Unis, mardi 25 mai. http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3232,36-366223,0.html