Evasion, Invention, Obfuscation

The Bush administration's contempt for the intelligence of Americans hit anew low Sunday night in the President's speechabout Iraq

People around the country are asking about the failure to find evidence ofweapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which everyone still remembers werethe stated reason for the war. And, as it becomes clear how little time theBush administration spent planning for the postwar occupation, people areincreasingly concerned about the ongoing suffering of the Iraqi people andthe risks faced by U.S. military personnel.

People want - and have a right to expect - the President to come cleanabout the lies and distortions used to lead the country to war, and anexplanation for the post-invasion failures. Instead, we got more evasion,invention and obfuscation. Bush refused even to acknowledge people'slegitimate questions and papered over the political and military failureswith increasingly stale rhetoric and rationalizations that ignored the keyquestion.

Bush mentioned weapons of mass destruction only twice on Sunday, both in vagueways that apparently referred to what Iraq possessed before the Gulf War.As the Blair government in Britain faces a crisis of legitimacy over itsrole in these lies, the Bush administration seems to think it can avoidaccountability for manufacturing a pretext for war.

The first move in Bush's shell game to send the weapons issue down thememory hole was the focus on the liberation of Iraq. That seemed like apromising propaganda ploy, and Bush is still trying to sell it; Sunday heused the terms "freedom" or "free" 21 times. But four months after the end ofmajor combat operations, it's hard not to notice that many Iraqis - and notjust the "Baath party remnants" - apparently are not so happy with U.S.plans for their freedom.

That's why Bush moved the shells again to focus on terrorism, his ace inthe hole since 9/11. On Sunday night he used the terms "terror", "terrorist" or "terrorism" 28 times. Bush administration officials have been smart enoughnever to directly claim they had proof the Hussein regime was involved in9/11. But their insinuation and innuendo have worked: According to a recentpoll, 69 percent of respondents believe it likely there was some link.

Now, however, Bush has shifted the focus to the current situation on theground in Iraq - that's where the terrorism threat exists.

No one knows the exact composition of the forces resisting the U.S.occupation. Certainly, it includes former members of the Hussein regime andmilitary, along with Iraqis who were anti-Saddam. It's also plausible thatsome non-Iraqis, perhaps including al-Qaeda members, are entering thecountry to fight the U.S. military. Some of the attacks have been onnonmilitary targets.

Bush's emphasis on this threat, however, begs an obvious question: If Iraqis now a magnet for terrorists, how did that come to be? Before the U.S.invasion, there not only was no evidence of a link between Hussein andal-Qaeda, but also no evidence of an al-Qaeda presence in the areas of Iraqthat Hussein controlled. The administration claims that organization is inmore than 60 countries. Finding perhaps the only Arab country with nodemonstrable al-Qaeda presence and making it a hotbed for recruitment is aremarkable achievement.

Bush and his spinmeisters desperately want us not to understand this simplefact: The Iraq war has made U.S. citizens less safe. The invasion increasednot only the risks for U.S. soldiers on the ground in Iraq, but for us all.

Bush got one thing right: Terrorists do thrive on "the resentments ofoppressed peoples." He should think about that. The resentment of Iraqisunder the occupation adds to the existing unrest in the region: theresentment of Palestinians under the U.S.-supported Israeli occupation; theresentment of Saudis under their U.S.- supported feudal monarchy; theresentment of Egyptians under their U.S.-supported dictatorship; not tomention the resentment of Iranians subjected for 26 years to a brutalpolice state supported by the United States.

As any street hustler knows, shell games work only as long as people don'tunderstand the con. Apparently, Bush and his campaign advisers think we'llnever catch on. The only way to stop the deception is for the public todemand accountability.

Robert Jensen, a professor of journalism at the Universityof Texas atAustin, is the author of the forthcoming "Citizens of the Empire: TheStruggle to Claim Our Humanity" (City Lights Books). Rahul Mahajan is the author of "Full Spectrum Dominance: U.S. Power inIraqand Beyond" (Seven Stories).