Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Ellen Ratner
This week I traveled with President Bush to my hometown, Cleveland, Ohio, where he had a lengthy town meeting. Later in the week, I attended a press conference in the brand new press room. The president did well in both venues, exhibiting a command of the issues and a good sense of humor that most don't get to see on sound-bite oriented television. He also was very quick to use the al-Qaida name. By my count, he mentioned al-Qaida 37 times in the Cleveland town meeting and 38 times in the press conference. Neither the timing of the public appearances, nor the excessive use of the name al-Qaida were by chance.

The White House chose to go to Cleveland just five days before the visit. They invited themselves. The White House called "Cleveland +," an organization similar to the chamber of commerce, and asked it to put together the town meeting. The White House had a reason for these two presidential "messaging opportunities." It wanted to plant an idea firmly in the American public's mind – re-invigorating the link between Iraq and al-Qaida – the missing link before and during the war. It is emerging as the president's last ditch effort to justify American boots on the Iraq civil war-torn ground.
Why now all of this al-Qaida? With the president's popularity ratings continuing at an all time low, and with members of the Republican Party beginning to question the wisdom of staying in Iraq at the present troop strength, he needs to do something. Enter the one thing everyone agrees is bad, bad, bad for America – al-Qaida. It has been a coordinated "word of the week" with Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff saying he had a "gut feeling" of a terror attack this summer. It was passed off as a slip of the tongue but "gut feelings" can't be subpoenaed in Congress. So, he was in safe territory by saying it.
President Bush wants to stay in Iraq, and even he has to have reasons to do so. He has become like Pravda in the old Soviet days, and no one believes him. So, the White House planners, headed up by the "architect," Karl Rove, saddled up with the president and headed to Cleveland. They resurrected the one issue every American has a genuine fear of – al-Qaida.
But like any law student learns, when the facts are with you, pound the facts. And when the facts are against you, pound the table. Well, the facts are against him, and he is pounding the table. Bush wants to make the reason for staying in Iraq the fight against al-Qaida, but military experts, whose careers are not dependent on the commander in chief's favor, are saying otherwise. Twice in the last month, Colin Powell has talked about the Iraqi civil war. On June 10, he said, "I have characterized it as a civil war even though the administration does not call it that. And the reason I call it a civil war is that allows you to see clearly what we're facing." Last week at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Powell said, "It (Iraqi conflict) is not a civil war that can be put down or solved by the armed forces of the United States."
There is no doubt that al-Qaida operates in Iraq. There is no doubt that foreign fighters make up some of the resistance. Officials estimate that al-Qaida numbers 5,000 in Iraq. Most of the fighting taking place in Iraq is, however, between the various factions of a "country" that was designed out of the needs of British Colonialism. The New York Times quotes military sources who say that the membership of the resistance in Iraq is primarily Iraqi and that their main interest is in ending the occupation.
Many of these foreign fighters are either coming from, or financed by, Iran and now believe that the Shiite area of southern Iraq is really an extension of Iran. According to L.A. Times reporter Ned Parker, 45 percent of all foreign militants targeting U.S. troops are from Saudi Arabia. Although the government of Saudi Arabia does not dispute the numbers, it denies any direct involvement. Others have questioned where the Sunni Iraqis are getting their financing if it is not directly from the Saudis.
The bottom line: This is a complicated civil war being fueled with arms from oil-rich nations, and citizens of oil-rich nations mixed in, with a cult of people who hate the West. Al-Qaida is quite adept at taking advantage of a very fluid and messy situation. So long as America is in Iraq, al-Qaida will be in Iraq. The American people deserve to know the facts; they deserve to know who our American men and women are really fighting and who exactly they are keeping the peace for. The American people need a more sophisticated explanation as to why President Bush is pushing to keep us fighting in Iraq. Mentioning al-Qaida 75 times in 48 hours just doesn't cut it as a reason to stay.