Time For Another PR Visit

by Steve Soto

Reuters photo of Bush reading a map in Iraq today

Since it is a holiday, it must be time for another Bush PR stunt in Iraq today. Well yes, it is. He flew into Baghdad and stayed a whopping 6 hours, a trip that was planned 5-6 weeks ago as part of a propaganda effort in advance of this month’s war vote. And as Bush said just enough to bamboozle the media into reporting that some troops would be coming home, his trip allowed him to:

•Get pictures taken with soldiers in Anbar province;
•Meet with Sunni militia leaders;
•Help the media forget why it is a surprise visit.

But it did allow Bush to at least make Iraq look safe to our gullible media two weeks in advance of the rubber stamp vote for another $50 billion and twelve months of time. Bush needs to make Iraq look safer between now and mid-September, just to get past the next vote. That’s why you see him spend time in Anbar, rather than in the formerly Sunni neighborhoods of Baghdad, which have been cleansed of Sunnis under Petraeus’ watch and now are run by Shiite gangs and militias. The PR stunt also allows Bush to distract attention from the British getting out of Basra, and their military high command’s criticism of the Bush Administration faulty war planning.

I wonder if Bush brought a plastic turkey this time, or will he bring one when he does his next publicity stunt in November? Come to think of it, by then he won't care anymore about the GIs in Iraq. He will have secured the money he needs to ride this out until late next year.