Opinion
 

Bush still looking better than Kerry

by Matthew Bean

I have repeatedly spoken out in support of President Bush's foreign policy, including his politically dicey handling of the situation in Iraq, and while I still feel Bush did the right thing, it seems that he's losing some of his edge.

I became suspicious when the news Web sites began filling up with headlines like "Seven U.S. Contractors Missing in Iraq," "Iraq Death Toll Spikes in April" and "U.S. Battles for Public Opinion Through Media in Iraq." Even FOX News is leading with a huge headline reading "7 U.S. Contractors, 2 Soldiers Missing."

Is Bush's plan slipping? I can't say for sure, but I do know his approval numbers have been dropping due both the useless 9/11 commission and a sudden spike in dead and missing U.S. troops overseas. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Bush is setting himself up for a repeat of his father's failed re-election campaign.

If things keep going this way, Kerry will be a shoe-in come November. I may not like Bush too much, but I'll take his stuttering and wild-west bravado over Kerry's Massachusetts-liberal flip-flopping any day of the week.

I'm pretty sure Bush has something up his sleeve, though. If he doesn't, maybe Kerry actually would be better, as scary as that seems. I'm hoping that the Bush administration has already captured Osama bin Laden and is keeping him holed up underground in a secret undisclosed location, only to be revealed in late October.

But what is happening in Iraq right now? I think that the people who were opposed to U.S. occupation in Iraq have finally stopped being afraid of us. The world was in shock when Bush shirked off the laughably irrelevant United Nations and flew solo into Saddam Hussein's house. The United States was feared and loathed, but mostly feared.

Unfortunately for us, the fear is beginning to dissipate, but the loathing has stuck around, and the seeds of rebellion are starting to take root.

This is bad for everyone involved. It's bad for the Republicans for the bad press it generates, and it's bad for the Democrats because even if they win in November, they're still going to have to clean up the mess. We've stuck our tentacles too far into Iraq's infrastructure to pull out now.

It's bad for the American public because it reinforces why the rest of the world hates us so much. It's bad for the Iraqi people, who have the unfortunate situation of living right in the eye of the storm. If the United States pulls out now, chances are the new government will collapse, but if we stay, the Iraqis are going to have to live through more bloodshed. 

The situation is looking increasingly more lose-lose, but I haven't given up hope. I have said before that death was an expected risk of warfare, and while that is unfortunate, sometimes that's the price of freedom. I still believe that, and I hope I am not proven wrong -- not because I would have to eat crow, but because the entire United States would.

As Machiavellian as it sounds, I think Bush should step up the public aggression to stir up a little more fear. He should authorize a few raids on enemy encampments and tape them for broadcast. He's already earned a reputation as a cowboy gunslinger; he might as well see it through. I figure if a few of these rebel leaders causing all this grief over in Iraq catch wind that Bush is starting to use a heavy hand again, they'll shut right back up.

Brutal? Yes, but unfortunately sometimes violence is the answer. 

Bean, a columnist for The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached at me@mattbean.com.