Abstract

Bush's Credibility Gap

The author argues that President George W. Bush's statements about the conflict in Iraq are not credible. In response to the news that coordinated suicide bombs in Baghdad had killed several dozen people and wounded 200, George W. Bush pointed to the attacks as a sign of success. There are terrorists in Iraq who are willing to kill anybody in order to stop our progress," he told White House reporters. "The more successful we are on the ground, the more these killers will react." A glib response might be, Then let's hope for a little less success. More serious--much more serious--is that Bush is contributing to a growing credibility gap. From the beginning, Bush has not been straight with the public--not just about the reasons for war and occupation but about the challenges and the reality on the ground. As Bush was hailing" progress" in Iraq, Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross were cutting staff in Iraq because of the increase in violence. As America figures out how to handle the massive task Bush has created for it in Iraq, the last thing we need is a credibility gap. But that's what Bush offers the troops, who are in danger, and the American people, who must bear the mounting costs of Bush's war.