January 21, 2005
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:
The problem was that President Bush's second inaugural address was not really crafted as a political speech. According to one of the president's advisers, the address is intended to stand through the ages as Bush's imprint in history -- as Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address has done. That is the reason the Bush speech did not even please all members of his own political base. [...]
Although the speech clearly was attuned to the nation's response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, there was no mention of "terrorism" or "the war on terror." Neither "Iraq" nor "Afghanistan" was mentioned.
How could the president make these omissions when the war in Iraq, fought as a battle in the war against terror, is his major second-term problem?
The answer is given by one Bush adviser by pointing to that second Lincoln inaugural. With the end of the Civil War in sight, Lincoln did not deal with the details of either military victory or Southern Reconstruction. Instead, he offered broad concepts of binding up the nation's wounds. As a result, that Lincoln speech is a rare inaugural address that has become a historical document.
The other pertinent comparison is to Ronald Reagan, who like Lincoln had sufficient vision to realize the war was won long before most of his followers did. The Sunni insurgency in Iraq is a detail, not a major second term problem.
MORE:
Most Iraqis Remain Committed to Elections, Poll Finds: Despite Insurgent Threats and Lack of Democratic Tradition, 80 Percent Say They Are Likely to Vote (Karl Vick, January 21, 2005, Washington Post)
An overwhelming majority of Iraqis continue to say they intend to vote on Jan. 30 even as insurgents press attacks aimed at rendering the elections a failure, according to a new public opinion survey.Posted by Orrin Judd at January 21, 2005 8:33 AMThe poll, conducted in late December and early January for the International Republican Institute, found 80 percent of respondents saying they were likely to vote, a rate that has held roughly steady for months. [...]
Western specialists involved with election preparations said they were struck by the determination and resilience of ordinary Iraqis as they anticipate their country's first free election in half a century.
"Despite the efforts of the terrorists, Iraqis remain committed to casting their vote on election day," IRI President Lorne Craner said in a statement.