Responses
to End of Combat in Iraq
May 1, 2003
Jim Aune
Texas A & M University
George W. Bush gave his May 1, 2003 speech on the U.S.S.
Lincoln. Lincoln, perhaps the greatest presidential orator,
spoke in a similar context toward the end of the Mexican
War, on January 12, 1846 before the U.S. House of Representatives.
If Lincoln were alive today and asked to comment on Mr.
Bush's speech he would probably pass quickly over the
issues of weapons of mass destruction (still haven't
turned up) or the Saddam-Bin Laden link (still MIA) to
focus on the single greatest lie in the speech: "Other nations
in history have fought in foreign lands and remained to
occupy and exploit. Americans, following a battle, want
nothing more than to return home." Lincoln's comments
about President Polk, who led the U.S. into the imperial
adventure that gave us American-occupied Texas, seem
uncannily prescient. Here are two brief extracts:
"[T]he President is, in no wise, satisfied with
his own positions. First he takes up one, and in attempting
to argue us into it, he argues himself out of it; then
seizes another, and goes through the same process;
and then, confused at being able to think of nothing
new, he snatches up the old one again, which he has some
time before cast off. His mind, tasked beyond its power,
is running hither and thither, like some tortured creature,
on a burning surface, finding no position, on which it
can settle down, and be at ease."
"Again, it is a singular omission in this message,
that it, no where intimates when the President expects
the war to terminate. At its beginning, Genl. Scott
was, by this same President, driven into disfavor, if
not disgrace, for intimating that peace could not be
conquered in less than three or four months. But now,
at the end of about twenty months, during which time
our arms have given us the most splendid successes--every
department, and every part, land and water, officers
and privates, regulars and volunteers, doing all that
men could do, and hundreds of things which it had ever
before been thought men could not do,--after all this,
this same President gives us a long message, without
showing us, that, as to the end, he himself, has, even
an imaginary conception. As I have before said, he knows
not where he is. He is a bewildered, confounded, and
miserably perplexed man. God grant he may be able to
show, there is not something about his conscious, more
painful than all his mental perplexity!"
Robert C. Byrd
U.S. Senator
In my 50 years as a member of Congress, I have had the
privilege to witness the defining rhetorical moments of
a number of American presidents. I have listened spellbound
to the soaring oratory of John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.
I have listened grimly to the painful soul-searching of
Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.
Presidential speeches are an important marker of any
President's legacy. These are the tangible moments that
history seizes upon and records for posterity. For this
reason, I was deeply troubled by both the content and the
context of President Bush's remarks to the American people
last week marking the end of the combat phase of the war
in Iraq. As I watched the President's fighter jet swoop
down onto the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln,
I could not help but contrast the reported simple dignity
of President Lincoln at Gettysburg with the flamboyant
showmanship of President Bush aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.
President Bush's address to the American people announcing
combat victory in Iraq deserved to be marked with solemnity,
not extravagance; with gratitude to God, not self-congratulatory
gestures. American blood has been shed on foreign soil
in defense of the President's policies. This is not some
made-for-TV backdrop for a campaign commercial. This is
real life, and real lives have been lost. To me, it is
an affront to the Americans killed or injured in Iraq for
the President to exploit the trappings of war for the momentary
spectacle of a speech. I do not begrudge his salute to
America's warriors aboard the carrier Lincoln, for they
have performed bravely and skillfully, as have their countrymen
still in Iraq, but I do question the motives of a deskbound
President who assumes the garb of a warrior for the purposes
of a speech.
As I watched the President's speech, before the great
banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished," I
could not help but be reminded of the tobacco barns of
my youth, which served as country road advertising backdrops
for the slogans of chewing tobacco purveyors. I am loath
to think of an aircraft carrier being used as an advertising
backdrop for a presidential political slogan, and yet
that is what I saw.
What I heard the President say also disturbed me. It
may make for grand theater to describe Saddam Hussein as
an ally of al Qaeda or to characterize the fall of Baghdad
as a victory in the war on terror, but stirring rhetoric
does not necessarily reflect sobering reality. Not one
of the 19 September 11th hijackers was an Iraqi. In fact,
there is not a shred of evidence to link the September
11 attack on the United States to Iraq. There is no doubt
in my mind that Saddam Hussein was an evil despot who brought
great suffering to the Iraqi people, and there is no doubt
in my mind that he encouraged and rewarded acts of terrorism
against Israel. But his crimes are not those of Osama bin
Laden, and bringing Saddam Hussein to justice will not
bring justice to the victims of 9-11. The United States
has made great progress in its efforts to disrupt and destroy
the al Qaeda terror network. We can take solace and satisfaction
in that fact. We should not risk tarnishing those very
real accomplishments by trumpeting victory in Iraq as a
victory over Osama bin Laden.
We are reminded in the gospel of Saint Luke, "For
unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." Surely
the same can be said of any American president. We expect,
nay demand, that our leaders be scrupulous in the truth
and faithful to the facts. We do not seek theatrics or
hyperbole. We do not require the stage management of
our victories. The men and women of the United States
military are to be saluted for their valor and sacrifice
in Iraq. Their heroics and quiet resolve speak for themselves.
The prowess and professionalism of America's military
forces do not need to be embellished by the gaudy excesses
of a political campaign.
War is not theater, and victory is not a campaign slogan.
I join with the President and all Americans in expressing
heartfelt thanks and gratitude to our men and women in
uniform for their service to our country, and for the sacrifices
that they have made on our behalf. But on this point I
differ with the President: I believe that our military
forces deserve to be treated with respect and dignity,
and not used as stage props to embellish a presidential
speech.
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